A Tribute to Saw Palmettos
Serenoa repens , the hardy Saw palmetto, found throughout our fair state and in the logo for the Florida Native Plant Society, is a tough and versatile plant. It is in rampant bloom right now, reminding the Jolly Bloggers that they have been meaning to do an "appreciation" post on it for some time now. So let's do it! Wikipedia is almost never a resource for us here, but I must admit I was interested in the name of this plant, and found no information from our usually mentioned resources. I discovered over there that 'Serenoa' was used as a way of honoring the American botanist, Sereno Watson, who otherwise had nothing whatsoever to do with the plant as far as I could discover. 'Repens' is latin for "unexpected, or surprised." And so I was. Surprised. I had expected the name to tell something about the plant! Serenao repens, saw palmetto in a yard The name 'Saw palmetto,' on the other hand, does tell something about the plant. Th