Carl Cornelius and I have been searching for Sabal minor populations here in Eastern NC for many years.
Two years ago Carl and I crossed the Pungo River to see the the largest Sabal minors we have ever seen. Ever since I posted photos of that trip, Jeff Arthur, another eastern NC palm enthusiast, had been wanting to go see them also. I had also been wanting to see them again, so last week Carl invited us to come up for a tour.Yesterday, October 31, 2004, Jeff and I drove the hour and a half trip up to Carl's place near Pamlico Beach, NC.
Jeff photographing what he thinks, at the moment, is a large Sabal minor.
Then Jeff was surprised to see an even larger one that Carl calls "Junior". Take a look at that fat trunk.
The reason he calls it Junior is because just across the river are some minors that tower over this one.
With the cell phone for scale, notice the size of the two inflorescence bases on Junior.
After touring the many Sabal minors on Carl's side of the Pungo River, we start out on the four mile trip across the river to see more. The red arrow, denotes our destination. The little mound, just barely visible across the river, is a stand of pines where the minors are located.
The three of us have been hunting Sabal minors in eastern NC for many years, but these just have to be the champions. Carl and I found a few near Beaufort last year that were almost as tall as some of these but can't compare in size trunks or the overall size of the Hyde County minors.
Then, after a most perfect day, Carolyn, Carl's wife, treated us to a great home cooked dinner of fresh seafood, just caught in the beautiful waters we had just traveled in front of their home.
