Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is a small palm tree native to Florida, and North America.

Saw palmetto is small and low growing, and has fanlike fingery fronds and small berry-shaped fruits with pungent taste. Saw palmetto fruits have been food for Native Americans, especially the Seminole Indians in Florida for at least 12,000 years. They used the leaf stems of Saw palmetto to make baskets. Native Americans prepared aqueous infusions of Saw palmetto fruits for treatment of stomachache and dysentery, at a dosage of 1 teaspoon dried berries to 1 cup boiling water. They also used Saw palmetto berries as a diuretic and sexual tonic. By the turn of 20th century, Saw palmetto fruits began to gain popularity in Europe, US, and the rest of the world for its proven efficacy particularly in preventing prostate enlargement and hair loss. Like other botanicals, Saw palmetto fruit extract will increasingly become popular as scientific and clinical researches are generating supporting data for the health benefits of Saw palmetto.