n. [ Dim. of palm the tree: cf. Sp. palmito. ] (Bot.) A name given to palms of several genera and species growing in the West Indies and the Southern United States. In the United States, the name is applied especially to the Chamærops Palmetto, or Sabal Palmetto, the cabbage tree of Florida and the Carolinas. See Cabbage tree, under Cabbage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Royal palmetto, the West Indian Sabal umbraculifera, the trunk of which, when hollowed, is used for water pipes, etc. The leaves are used for thatching, and for making hats, ropes, etc. --
Saw palmetto, Sabal serrulata, a native of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The nearly impassable jungle which it forms is called palmetto scrub. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Any of several flags adopted by South Carolina after its secession. That adopted in November, 1860, had a green cabbage palmetto in the center of a white field; the final one, January, 1861, had a white palmetto in the center of a blue field and a white crescent in the upper left-hand corner. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. prop. n. South Carolina; -- a nickname alluding to the State Arms, which contain a representation of a palmetto tree. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]