Scientific Name : Phoenix dactylifera L.
Common Name : Date Palm
Chinese Name : 海棗
Family : ARECACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. |
|---|---|
| Meanings of names | The specific epithet dactylifera is a blend of the Greek word dactylus and Latin word ferous, together known as ‘finger-bearing’, alluding to its capacity of producing oblong and finger-like fruits. |
| As dead as a doornail? |
We always begin to estimate a plant’s life span when it germinates from a seed, but what if the germination period of seeds are also taken into account? Perhaps we can receive a jolt from it. Date Palm has been cultivated since 6700 to 6000 B.P. in Mesopotamia and Upper Arabian Gulf, in view of its delicious taste and wonderful medicinal effects. After the germination, the palm can live for a general 100 years or above. In recent years, scientists found ‘the world’s most aged Date Palm’ in Masada, Israel. When the palm was found, it still remained in a seed stage and laid up under heaps of rubble. According to the radiocarbon dating result, astonishingly, the seed could have already been dormant for 2000 years! It successfully sprouted in 2005 and is currently planted in the Arava Institute, enjoying a 24-hours pampering. In respect of its unexpected dormancy, it is also named as ‘Methuselah’, a biblical character who died at age of 969. Date Palm is emblematic of plants' vigour. Under the endless evolution and selective pressure, plants have armed multiple ‘weapons’ so they can adapt to dynamic environments. Seed dormancy is probably one of the most powerful mechanisms equipped by seed-bearing plants, helping them sweep throughout the world today. When we take a glimpse into the Carboniferous period, which parts of the world were still swampy and dominated by spore plants (e.g. ferns), seed plants already lived like a prophet, having a great forecast to the change of environment. They first rooted in uplands of the swamps and stayed away from the drastic competition from spore plants. Different from spore plants which require water to complete their generations, seeds can endure and sprout when they spot a better-off moment. When the earth stepped into the Permian, the period when the weather was getting drier, seed plants then proliferated by storm and have ruled the world’s vegetation. |
| Growing habit | Main stem solitary palm. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 10-30 m. |
| Stem | Base swollen, main stem solitary, greyish brown, covered with persistent diamond-shaped leaf bases. |
| Leaves | Pinnate, to 4 m long, around 200 pinnae per side of rachis. Pinnae sword-shaped, greyish green, alternate or opposite, arranged in several planes on the rachis. Pinnae at the base modified, spiny. |
| Flower | Dioecious. Spikes axillary, branched, erect, female inflorescence later becoming pendulous. Flowers creamy-yellow. |
| Fruit | Drupes ovoid to oblong, turning orange to purplish black when mature, 1-seeded. |
| Flowering period | March to April in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | September to October in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website :
https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=6783
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China : Phoenix dactylifera Linnaeus.
― Plants of the World Online : Phoenix dactylifera L.