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 61โ68 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 6โ10 m 20โ33 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 2โ3 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.
