Health & Fitness
Saw Yourself a Serving of Saw Palmetto
You won't have to travel very far to find this wild edible plant.
If there’s one wild edible plant that is very common around here, it’s the saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). This most abundant native palm grows all over the southeastern United States.
“Saw palmetto” is a very appropriate common name. Just put on a pair of shorts and run through a saw palmetto grove. The sharp spines on the saw palmetto leafstalks will scratch up your legs just like the teeth of a saw.
Saw palmettos have berries which have turned into a big business in Central and North Florida. Extracts from these berries are made into very popular herbal supplements to treat benign prostate conditions.
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The ripe berries are totally edible but have a flavor described as tasting like a strong oily blue cheese followed by an intense peppery blast. I have yet to try any of the berries. With that kind of flavor profile, I think I’ll pass.
From my perspective, the heart of the saw palmetto is the tastiest part of the plant. Here’s how you harvest the heart:
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- Look for a saw palmetto with vigorous new growth. These are the ones that are most likely to have “tender hearts.” They may be easier to find in the spring.
- Take a hand saw and saw off the top 5 inches of the saw palmetto trunk, i.e., that portion just below where the newest frond is emerging.
- Taking the part you just sawed off, make a vertical slit with your saw so that you can peel away the outer husks.
- The white innermost cylinder is the heart of the saw palmetto.
The heart is tender enough that you can eat it raw.
You can eat raw saw palmetto as a snack or as part of a salad. Serenoa repens can also be cooked as a vegetable.
Some sources state that removing the top will kill the saw palmetto plant. That’s not true for the saw palmettos in this area. I assure you that it won’t permanently damage them. A new leafstalk (petiole) will emerge from the central core of the trunk and, given enough time, the saw palmetto will heal itself nicely. The only sure way to kill a saw palmetto is to dig it up with all its roots