Palmetto Tree vs Palm Tree: best tips to spot the differences

The Palmetto tree and palm tree belong to the same family but they have many major differences. The main difference between them is their size. Palm trees can be 80 feet tall but the largest palmetto tree grows a maximum of about 30 feet.  

You can see the battle of Palmetto tree vs palm tree. Confusion between two trees is common. These can easily confuse people because both are monocots, which indicates that they do not produce trunks or main stems in layers the way oaks, pines, and other woody trees do.

Differences In Their Attributes

To differentiate them easily some of their attributes are given.

Attributes	Palmetto tree	Palm tree
Height	Up to 30 feet	Up to 80 feet
Trunk growth	Horizontal growth	Vertical growth
Leaf shape	Fan shaped leaves	Feather shaped
Flowers	Urinary tract medicine, wildlife shelter, fire-resistant planting	Feathery fragrant blooms
Fruits	Small black berries	Large dates or coconuts
Native range	South Carolina and Florida	Tropical regions: Africa, South America, Middle East
Uses	Wine, oil, roofing, coconut, and date production.	Wine, oil, roofing, coconut, and date production.

About The Palm Tree

Before discussing palmetto vs palm tree, we should have a complete knowledge of each tree. 

The palm tree is one of the trees that belongs to the Arecaceae family. People plant these varieties of palm in their home gardens. You can easily find this variety of trees because they tend to have various uses within.

Their location may differ but they are mostly seen near the coast with large, blue-green leaves having a prominent notch in the middle. These trees from southern Florida possess larger and more obvious leaves. 

The trunk is large, it can be a foot and a half across, and wild palmetto retain old front bases on their trunks in a crisscross pattern, these are typically called “boosts”, but these are sometimes removed on cultivated plants.

About The Palmetto Tree

The interesting fact about this tree is that it is native to South Carolina. This tree used to be called a child of the palm family and it’s been used by various people for a long time. It can be said that growing this variety of trees will suit best for your home garden best.

When you talk about its trunk you come to know that it produces spongy trunks and the tree is considered one of the drought-resistant trees. People usually tend to grow this variety in the home garden for shade.

Palmetto Tree vs Palm Tree ( What’s the Actual Difference?)

There is great confusion among people about these trees but these trees have some major differences that make them clear so that people can easily identify these trees. You can name this section palm vs palmetto tree.

Height

Height is the most obvious difference that can easily be identified by anyone. The height is the basic difference between the Palmetto and Palm tree. When you make comparisons among varieties of palm trees, you come to know that palmetto trees are smaller than other varieties. 

A palm tree contains a typical height of almost 80 feet while when you walk to learn about palmetto we will come to know that it grows practically 30-60 feet tall. 

Both the trees do not produce trunks or main stems in layers. The palm tree shows vertical growth while in a palmetto tree, the main stem grows underground and horizontally.

Leaves and trunk structure

You can also notice the differences in their leaf structure. The palmetto trees have substantially wider leaves than other palm varieties. Another prominent difference is the way individual leaves come together to make stems.

The leaves have parallel veins having lengths up to 36 inches. Palmetto leaves appear as clusters at the base and scatter outward in the shape of a fan, while palms feature thin, spiny leaves that grow horizontally from a stalk in the shape of a feather and can exceed more than 36 inches.

Now let’s talk about their trunks, Palm trees have long trunks that grow vertically up to an amazing height while in palmetto trees trunks grow shorter.

Flowers and Fruits

Flowers also make a difference in these trees. White flowers are observed on the desert, royal, or queen palm trees that are soft to the touch.

There is a similarity to palm trees, the diversity of the palmetto blooms varies. Saw palmettos produce long sticks with yellowish-white flowers and short sticks are produced by dwarf palmetto with just the tip of a leaf.

Fruits can be considered another prominent difference between palm and other trees like coconut trees. This is a fact that palm trees are a good source of coconut and dates while a palmetto produces small berries. This little fruit is usually consumed by birds and other local creatures.

Growing Habitat

Palm trees do not grow in temperature zones under 16 degrees or less since they grow tall. They also do not bear rainfall. In the tropical zone, these trees nourish in profusion as palmetto is different from other palm trees so it does not reach very high heights.

They need protection by covering themselves under a long tree. Because of this attribute, it grows larger leaves so that more sunshine may hit them. That’s why one of them is also referred to as the Dwarf palmetto. They don’t often grow in cold climates.

Uses

Their usage may successful difference between them. We all have heard about palm wine, also known as Toddy.  Palm extract is an extensively made beverage. You can also use palm oil. In cosmetics, it is considered to be the best product.

There are many uses for these trees they are used in making jewelry, for handcrafts, and for rituals. But in the case of palmetto, they are used to provide various medical benefits.

Palmettos extract is used as a medicine for improving urinary and reproductive health. In the whole world, their leaves are used as fuel and feed. Another benefit of their smaller size and short height is, that they can easily be grown in a home garden. 

Which one should I choose to Grow?

It is difficult to choose which tree should grow in the garden because both have various advantages and disadvantages.

You have to keep some points in mind if you want to grow palm trees in your garden then you have to manage the space because they require large space because they can go up to incredible heights.

The palmetto tree refers to the people living in the northern areas because the trees are well-grown in warm climatic conditions. The Palmetto tree is easy to maintain and can be grown in small spaces as compared to the palm tree. 

Conclusion

The palm and Palmetto tree both belong to the same family but they are very much different from one another. You can trace differences simply by the appearance of the two trees.

When you need to learn palmetto tree vs palm tree, you should observe attributes like height, fruits on them, or the shape of the leaves. They live in similar habitats and are sometimes regarded as subgroups, palmetto trees are not palms. I hope this guide will help you to differentiate the two.

FAQs