serenoa

It is the sole species in the genus Serenoa. The genus name honors American botanist Sereno Watson.

It is endemic to the subtropical and tropical Southeastern United States as well as Mexico,{{GBIF|id=2735055|taxon=Serenoa repens}} most commonly along the south Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains and sand hills. It grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal areas, and as undergrowth in pine woods or hardwood hammocks.{{Cite web |title=Serenoa in Flora of North America @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=130134 |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=www.efloras.org}}

Erect stems or trunks are rarely produced, but are found in some populations. It is a hardy plant; extremely slow-growing, and long-lived, with some plants (especially in Florida) possibly being as old as 500–700 years.{{Cite journal |first=George W. |last=Tanner |author2=J. Jeffrey Mullahey |author3=David Maehr |title=Saw-palmetto: An Ecologically and Economically Important Native Palm |version=Circular WEC-109 |journal=Electronic Data Information Source of UF/IFAS Extension |publisher=University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service |date=July 1996 |url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW11000.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704212509/http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW11000.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-04 }}

Saw palmetto is a fan palm, with the leaves that have a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of about 20 leaflets. The petiole is armed with fine, sharp teeth or spines that give the species its common name. The teeth or spines are easily capable of breaking the skin, and protection should be worn when working around a saw palmetto. The leaves are light green inland, and silvery-white in coastal regions. The leaves are 1–2 m in length, the leaflets 50–100 cm long. They are similar to the leaves of the palmettos of genus Sabal. The flowers are yellowish-white, about 5 mm across, produced in dense compound panicles up to 60 cm long.

File:SerenoraRepensHabitatPuntaGorda.jpg|Among live oak and sabal palmetto in habitat, Punta Gorda, Florida

File:Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) in Manatee Springs State Park.jpg|In Manatee Springs State Park, Florida

File:WindySerenoaRepensTrunks.jpg|Winding trunks of an old clump, Manasota Key, Florida

File:Serenoa repens.jpg|Detail of flowers

File:SilverSawPalmettoClump.jpg|A very old example of the silver variant, Largo, Florida

The fruit is a large reddish-black drupe and is an important food source for wildlife and historically for humans. The plant is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species such as Batrachedra decoctor, which feeds on the plant, including the interior of the inflorescence.{{cite journal|last=Hodges|first=Ronald W.|title=Review of New World Species of Batrachedra, with Description of Three New Genera (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)|journal=Transactions of the American Entomological Society|volume=92|issue=4|jstor=25077925|pages=585-651|year=1966}}{{rp|628-631}}

{{See also|Saw palmetto extract}}

Saw palmetto extract has been studied as a possible treatment for people with prostate cancer and for men with lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).{{cite web |title=Saw palmetto |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/saw-palmetto.html |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=5 October 2020 |date=4 December 2018}}{{cite web |title=Spotlight on saw palmetto: What the science says |url=https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/providers/digest/spotlight-on-saw-palmetto-science |publisher=NCCIH Clinical Digest for Health Professionals, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health |access-date=5 October 2020 |date=1 July 2019}} As of 2023, there is insufficient scientific evidence that saw palmetto extract is effective for treating cancer or BPH and its symptoms.{{Cite journal|display-authors=3 |last1=Franco |first1=Juan Va |last2=Trivisonno |first2=Leonel |last3=Sgarbossa |first3=Nadia J. |last4=Alvez |first4=Gustavo Ariel |last5=Fieiras |first5=Cecilia |last6=Escobar Liquitay |first6=Camila Micaela |last7=Jung |first7=Jae Hung |date=2023-06-22 |title=Serenoa repens for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic enlargement |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2023 |issue=6 |pages=CD001423 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD001423.pub4 |issn=1469-493X |pmc=10286776 |pmid=37345871}}

One 2016 review of clinical studies with a standardized extract of saw palmetto (called Permixon) found that the extract was safe and may be effective for relieving BPH-induced urinary symptoms compared against a placebo.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.euf.2016.04.002 |pmid=28723522 |title=Efficacy and safety of hexanic lipidosterolic extract of Serenoa repens (Permixon) in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |journal=European Urology Focus |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=553–561 |year=2016 |last1=Novara |first1=Giacomo |last2=Giannarini |first2=Gianluca |last3=Alcaraz |first3=Antonio |last4=Cózar-Olmo |first4=José-M. |last5=Descazeaud |first5=Aurelien |last6=Montorsi |first6=Francesco |last7=Ficarra |first7=Vincenzo|display-authors=3 |s2cid=19219564 }}

Indigenous names are reported to include: {{lang|cho|tala}} or {{lang|cho|talimushi}} ("palmetto's uncle") in Choctaw; {{lang|tjm|cani}} (Timucua); {{lang|cku|ta ́:la}} (Koasati); {{lang|akz|taalachoba}} ("big palm", Alabama); {{lang|mus|ta:laɬ a ́ kko}} ("big palm", Creek); {{lang|mik|talco ́:bˆı}} ("big palm", Mikasuki); and {{lang|tnq|guana}} (Taíno, possibly).{{cite book |title=Florida Ethnobotany |last=Austin |first=DF |year=2004 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, Florida |isbn= 978-0-8493-2332-4}} Saw palmetto fibers have been found among materials from indigenous people as far north as Wisconsin and New York, strongly suggesting this material was widely traded prior to European contact.{{cite journal |author=Whitford AC |title=Textile fibers used in eastern aboriginal North America |journal=Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History |year=1941 |volume=38 |pages=5–22 |hdl=2246/92}} The leaves are used for thatching by several indigenous groups, so commonly that a location in Alachua County, Florida, is named Kanapaha ("palm house").{{cite book |title=A Provisional Gazetteer of Florida Place-Names of Indian Derivation |last=Simpson |first=JC |year=1956 |publisher=Florida Geological Survey |location=Tallahassee |oclc=1099766 |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00000484/00001}} The fruit may have been used to treat an unclear form of fish poisoning by the Seminoles and Lucayans.{{cite book |title=The Mikasuki Seminole: Medical Beliefs and Practices |last=Sturtevant |first=WC|year=1955 |publisher=University Microfilms |location=Ann Arbor, MI }}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Serenoa repens}}

{{Wikispecies|Serenoa repens}}

• [http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Sereno_repens.htm Serenoa repens]
• [http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/sere_rep.cfm Serenoa repens] from [http://www.floridata.com Floridata]
• [http://www.plantmaps.com/nrm/serenoa-repens-saw-palmetto-native-range-map.php Interactive Distribution Map for Serenoa repens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306202028/http://www.plantmaps.com/nrm/serenoa-repens-saw-palmetto-native-range-map.php |date=6 March 2016 }}

{{Arecaceae genera}}

{{Non-timber forest products}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q927607}}

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Category:Coryphoideae

Category:Monotypic Arecaceae genera

Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine

Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States

Category:Non-timber forest products