Date palm

The date palm is a Arbre of the family of the Arécacée S, largely cultivated for its Fruit S: the Datte S. It is the tree of the Saharan oases. One does not know this species in a wild state.

Scientific name: Phoenix will dactylifera L., family of the Arécacée S, subfamily of the Coryphoideae .

Common noun: date palm, date palm, cultivated date palm. of: Dattelpalme, in: date palm, are: will palmera will datilera.

Description

It is large a Palmier from 15 to 30 m in height, with the cylindrical trunk, the feather-grass, carrying a crown of sheets.

The sheets pennate, are finely divided and long from 4 to 7 meters.

The species is Dioïque and carries Inflorescence S males or females, called spadices, wrapped of very large bractée membranous, the spathe. The female flowers have three carpelles independent, of which only one develops to form date.

The fruits, the dates, grouped in modes, are bay S, with sweetened flesh surrounding an osseous “core” which is in fact the seed.

Culture

The Pollinisation is done by the wind (anémophilie), however in culture, the reduced number of male palm trees (in Algeria, where they are called dokkars , one often counts some for 100 feet females) obliges to practice an artificial pollination.

The propagation of the date palm is done either by Clonage, or by taking away of Drageon S in order to preserve the selected Cultivar S. Indeed, the palm tree is Hétérozygote and simple a Semis would not make it possible to find gustatory qualities of the fruit of origin. However, sowing is very easy and can, in rare cases, being at the origin of a interesting Cultivar. For sowings out of pot, to envisage a pot higher than broad because the seed develops a long pivot root before producing its first air growth approximately 2 months after sowing.

In the areas never not going down under -10°C, one can plant seed directly in outside after having let it germinate in water glass. A seedling female will spend approximately 10 years to be borne fruit if it is near a male seedling and profits from the adequate climate.

Origin and distribution

The cultivated date palm is known since highest Antiquity. Its origin would be located in the west of India or the area of the Persian Gulf. It is widespread in all the hot zones of North Africa, the the Sahara, from the Atlantic until the Red Sea, like in the Middle East and towards the east until the Indus.

Its zone of predilection is between 15th and 30e northern degree of latitude. More in north, it can be cultivated, but does not bear fruit or gives poor fruits.

It was introduced into the five continents, in particular in America as from the 16th century and Australia at the 19th century. It is the object of commercial cultures in North Africa, with the the Middle East and the the United States (California, Arizona).

Varieties

There exist hundreds of varieties which are attached to two great groups: dry dates and soft dates. Among soft dates, the most appreciated in Europe, the most known variety is the Deglet nour . To inventory the cultivars date palm, the varieties cultivated in the oases are identified by vernacular names. The signs of the adult tree (the palm tree) and especially the fruits constitute the best criteria to distinguish between the varieties. The efforts of characterization are heterogeneous of a country to another. Today, on the basis of Maghrebian proposal, Bioversity International published the descriptors of the date palm, which will make it possible to describe the varieties according to a common standard. In Algeria, the number of cultivars inventoried exceeds the thousand (1300). In addition to the identified cultivars, there exists in the oases of the palm trees resulting from Franc S and which are not identified by names. It is either of the male palm trees or of the trees females recently selected or not still identified. This category is very rich in diversity and accounts for 1 to 10% of the number of palm trees in an oasis. The male palm trees are called without distinction Dokkars and the other francs females are known under the terms: Khalt, Ighess, Drowned, Aghemmu, A' prejudice, Dguel, Degla, etc according to the areas. Thus the number of existing genotypes exceeds the estimates from some 100 to 150.000 specimens. By generalize the culture of varieties known as better or good quality or of export, the greatest number of varieties and especially of khalt (frank) and dokkars are subjected to a dramatic erosion. More than 50% of the palm trees are of the aforesaid Deglet Noor, although there exist other specimens of better adapted varieties more resistant to the dryness and the diseases and even more productive or earlier. The largest date is Deglet Talmine (40grs.!!). Earliest is Sheik Mhammed or Ferrana (maturity: June). Longest is Seb' has Bedra' (>7cm). The resistance variety to Bayoud (Fusariose) is Taqerbucht.

Use

The date palm provides fruits, very energy, but many other things (more than 130 uses are identified near the populations oasiennes):

with dates, one can produce honey (Rob), alcohol and vinegar;
Its Bois is invaluable as combustible as well as as sawlog in areas where the trees are very rare.
Its sheets provide a raw material for the manufacture of various objects of Vannerie. Whole, they are used to cover the roofs and especially to fix dunes (Afreg). The rachis are used for the clothes industry of the articles as pieces of furniture. The base of the petioles (Kornaf) are used in the construction or artistic work of Cabinet work in particular with Metlili beside Ghardaia.
the final Bud, as for much of palm trees, can be consumed like Chou cabbage tree.

It is often employed like ornamental tree.

Diseases

the bayoud (Fusariose)

Symbolic system of the date palm

Among the old Greeks and Romans, the palm was the symbol of the victory and decreed with the victorious warriors as with the winners of the sporting tests.

In France, the sheet of the palm tree, or palm, symbolizes a decoration: one speaks about the academic Palmes

Close species

the date palm of the Canaries, Phoenix canariensis
the date palm of théophraste, Phoenix theophrasti

Sowing and germination

If you want to make germinate a Dactylifera Phoenix easily on your premise. Buy the freshest possible dates (not dries if possible), then eat your dates and take seeds (wash them well). Put your seeds in tepid water and leave them 24:00. Then put your cores in compost. Germination can be very long (up to six months), but in general it occurs two months after the ground setting.

Simple: Date Palm

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