Date palm
Family Palmae (or Arecaceae)
Phoenix dactylifera, the date palm (P. dactylifera 1), is a dioecious palm, up to 30 m tall, with a terminal crown bearing 100 or more pinnate leaves, each 4-7 m long. Inflorescences axillary and much branched, the male ones with 100-150 branches bearing numerous small cream-coloured flowers (P. dactylifera 2), each with 6 stamens; the female ones with 10-30 branches, bearing the reddish-brown fruits and becoming pendulous as fruits develop. Propagation is by means of suckers. Date palms begin fruiting about 5 years after planting and may continue fruiting up to about 80 years of age. The date (P. dactylifera 3) is a berry, cylindrical in shape, 5-7 cm long, containing 60% sugar and a single cylindrical seed, deeply grooved. They also have some content of vitamin A, B1 and B2.
Distribution
The date palm may have originated in Mesopotamia, where it has been cultivated for at least 5000 years. Nowadays the date palm is widely cultivated in the arid regions of the Middle East (P. dactylifera 4) and northern Africa. It was introduced into Arizona and California from Spain between 200 and 300 years ago, where it is now cultivated commercially (P. dactylifera 5). The date palm is also introduced with success into South America, Australia and South Africa.
Use
The fruits are generally classified into 3 types: the soft dates which are grown in the Middle East and are exported mainly to other parts of the Arab world; semi-dry dates, which are mainly imported into Europe from North African countries; and dry dates which can be kept for a long time and can be ground into a flour.
In the Middle East some 800 uses of the palm have been recorded, of which the use as building material, thatching material, and the use of fibres are among the best known. At one time dates were used as means of payment in the Arab world. The annual yield varies from 20-100 kg of dates per adult tree. Three quarters of the world production is used in the Middle East. The largest producers are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iran, and Egypt.