A planned ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway morphed into a southern detour after an invitation to follow the backstory of the elusive saw palmetto berry — a ride that began and ended in the northern Florida wilderness.
I am a Canadian university urologist who treats some men with enlarged prostate glands and associated urinary symptoms with a natural extract of the saw palmetto berry, particularly if they are not interested in my standard practice of using prescribed pharmaceuticals or surgery. As a clinical researcher, I jumped at the chance to delve more into the saw palmetto berry, since I’m interested in natural product supplements that may boost men’s health. The saw palmetto berry, one such herbal remedy touted for prostate, urinary and sexual problems, only grows uncultivated in the wilds of Florida and south Georgia.
I was riding my trusty 2015 V-Strom 650XT through the sand pine scrub forest of the Ocala National Forest in search of Mike and his saw palmetto picking crew, who I was to meet in a privately owned wilderness area adjacent to the park. It was mid-September and I was too late by just a
