Rockport Texas - The History, Legends & Lore 1st Printing | Page 52

PALM TREES (sp. Var.) Palms have grown in North America for 80 million years. The Texas Sabal Palm (sp. Sabal mexicana) is our closest native - the classic ‘Fan Leaf Palm’. But here in Rockport (because of human intervention) we’re loaded down with various species of Palm Trees. California Fan Palms (sp. Washingtonia filifera) LORE: In Brownsville Texas there still remains a portion of an ancient Sabal Palm Forest - the last natural grove of Palm Trees in the U.S. - and is currently protected as the Sabal Palm Sanctuary. Rio Grande Palmetto or South Texas Sabal (sp. Sabal mexicana) A Canary Island Date Palm (sp. Phoenix canariensis) A True Date Palm (sp. Phoenix dactylifera) 51