Phoenix dactylifera , commonly known as the date palm , [ 2 ] is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae , cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. Date palms reach up to 30 metres feet in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system.
Slow-growing, they can reach over years of age when maintained properly. Containing 61β68 percent sugar by mass when dried, [ 8 ] dates are consumed as sweet snacks on their own or with confections. There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in Arabia from the 6th millennium BCE. The leaflets are 30 centimetres 12 inches long and 2 cm 1 in wide. The full span of the crown ranges from 6β10 m 20β33 ft. The date palm is dioecious , having separate male and female plants.
Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2β3 years earlier than seedling plants. Dates are naturally wind- pollinated , but in traditional oasis horticulture and modern commercial orchards, they are entirely hand-pollinated. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. With assistance, one male can pollinate up to females. Since the males are of value only as pollinators, they are usually pruned in favor of fruit-producing female plants.
Some growers do not maintain male plants, as male flowers become available at local markets at pollination time. Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders, or by use of a wind machine. Dates contain a single stone seed about 2β2. Three main cultivar groups exist: soft e. A draft genome of P. With the release of this improved genome assembly, the researchers were able to map genes for fruit color and sugar content.
The place of origin of the date palm is uncertain because of long cultivation. According to some sources it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent region straddling Egypt and Mesopotamia [ 6 ] while others state that they are native to the Persian Gulf area.
