Phoenix dactylifera Seeds | Date Palm
LATIN NAME: Phoenix dactylifera
COMMON NAME: Date Palm, Date
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera is a tall, graceful palm in the palm family, native to region from the persian gulf to India, though it has been cultivated for so long that its true wild range is unclear. Date palm is one of oldest cultivated trees in world, and it has fed people of deserts for thousands of years. It grows as a tall, graceful palm, reaching twenty metres or more, with a slender, rough trunk crowned by a great fountain of feathery, blue-green fronds. From crown hang long, arching clusters of flowers that ripen into bunches of dates, sweet, sticky, golden-brown fruits that have been a staple food of the Middle East and North Africa since ancient times. In good conditions it grows to around Twenty metres. It is hard to name another plant that gives this much for this little trouble.
Science & Biotechnology
Research touching on Phoenix dactylifera ranges from the botany of the palm family to practical horticulture, including seed handling, propagation and the selection of superior forms. Date palm has one of longest and richest records of agricultural research of any tree. From a research perspective, species of this kind are valuable material for work on propagation and on the selection of uniform lines.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Date Palm has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Ecologically, date palm is tree of the oasis. Its canopy gives shade in desert, its leaves give shelter for birds, and its presence creates conditions for other crops and life to thrive in harsh dry lands. Dates are a major food crop, eaten fresh and dried and used in countless products, and palm is also used for timber, thatch, fibre, baskets and fuel, while sap is tapped for a sweet drink. Thereafter it wants only the ordinary attentions any garden plant receives.
The date palm’s fruit is an ancient energy food rich in fiber, potassium and polyphenols, and date sap and seed all find traditional use; it is one of the oldest cultivated trees.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Date Palm under ordinary good conditions. Growing a date palm from seed is easy and a lot of fun, though fruit you get may differ from the parent. Seeds sit inside dates, and they do well in warm, moist conditions, so clean seed and sow it in a pot of free-draining compost, about a centimetre deep, and keep it warm, bright and evenly moist. Sow the seed evenly over the surface and cover lightly, using a loose, well-drained seed compost, and keep it just moist in full sun until the seedlings are well up. Transplant the sturdiest seedlings to their permanent spots and let them develop without disturbance.
Our Take
It is a solid representative of the Phoenix group, true to type from seed. Given the right start, Date Palm, Date is a long-term garden companion. From then on, routine care is all that is required.
Related Reading
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