Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm,[2] is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.[3][4][5] P. dactylifera is the type species of genus Phoenix, which contains 12–19 species of wild date palms.[6]
Date trees reach up to 30 metres (100 ft) in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system. Slow-growing, they can reach over 100 years of age when maintained properly.[7] The roots have pneumatodes.[23] The leaves are 4–6 metres (13–20 ft) long, with spines on the petiole, and pinnate, with about 150 leaflets. The leaflets are 30 cm (12 in) long and 2 cm (1 in) wide. The full span of the crown ranges from 6–10 m (20–33 ft).
The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlings will be female and hence fruit bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2–3 years earlier than seedling plants.
%20in%20height,%20growing%20singly%20or%20forming%20a%20clump%20with%20several%20stems%20from%20a%20single%20root%20system.%20Slow-growing,%20they%20can%20reach%20over%20100%20years%20of%20age%20when%20maintained%20properly.sup%20id=cite_ref-Hodel_7-1%20class=referencea%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_palm#cite_note-Hodel-7%5B7%5D/a/sup The%20roots%20have a%20title=Pneumatode%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatodepneumatodes/a.sup%20id=cite_ref-Halli-Mangenot-1986_23-0%20class=referencea%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_palm#cite_note-Halli-Mangenot-1986-23%5B23%5D/a/sup The%20leaves%20are%204–6%20metres%20(13–20 ft)%20long,%20with%20spines%20on%20the a%20title=Petiole%20(botany)%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petiole_(botany)petiole/a,%20and a%20class=mw-redirect%20title=Pinnate%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnatepinnate/a,%20with%20about%20150%20leaflets.%20The%20leaflets%20are%2030 cm%20(12 in)%20long%20and%202 cm%20(1 in)%20wide.%20The%20full%20span%20of%20the%20crown%20ranges%20from%206–10 m%20(20–33 ft).The%20date%20palm%20is a%20class=mw-redirect%20title=Plant%20sexuality%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_sexualitydioecious/a,%20having%20separate%20male%20and%20female%20plants.%20They%20can%20be%20easily%20grown%20from%20seed,%20but%20only%2050%%20of%20seedlings%20will%20be%20female%20and%20hence%20fruit%20bearing,%20and%20dates%20from%20seedling%20plants%20are%20often%20smaller%20and%20of%20poorer%20quality.%20Most%20commercial%20plantations%20thus%20use a%20title=Cutting%20(plant)%20href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_(plant)cuttings/a of%20heavily%20cropping%20cultivars.%20Plants%20grown%20from%20cuttings%20will%20fruit%202–3%20years%20earlier%20than%20seedling%20plants.&media=https://www.foodfinderz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Dates.jpg){kind=link}