Phoenix dactylifera - Date palm

Somewhat blurry photo of the Phoenix dactylifera that is
a cross with P. canariensis. How do we know this?
Nelson Kirk said so!

Native to: Probably Iraq, Northern Africa, Southwestern Asia. Grown for about 8000 years.

Grown now: Algeria, Benin, California, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Egypt, Fiji, Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Madeira, Mauritius, Morocco, New Caledonia, Oman, Pakistan, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, Spain, and Turkey (Palmpedia).
Growth: 80 feet tall
Leaves: Pinnate with sharp spines at the base. Sparser than P. canariensis.
Fruit: Edible, with many cultivars. Male and female flowers occur on separate trees (dioecious). Fruit may be eaten fresh or dried.
Trunk: Lattice pattern from leaf scars
Water requirements:
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Phoeniceae

Learn more

• Wikipedia also mentions Judean palm which was sprouted from a 2000 year old seed.
• Palmpedia.
• Where to see some date palms: Lining the entrance to the Fremont Hub. From Argonaut Way, turn into shopping center at Sacramento Avenue light.
• Etymology: dactylifera is from Greek for "finger", dáktulos. Familiar to us from such words as Pterodactyl (wing finger).

Dates:

Dates collected from the park's hybrid date palm.

They were actually not too bad tasting.

Don't eat anything that you are not sure is edible!

This bunch of dates, the cultivar "Bahri",
were bought in the store in September.
The dates on the stem are in "kimri" stage.
One date (top right) has reached "rutab" stage.
You can eat the dates in all stages from
"kimri", the intermediate "khalal", and "rutab" stages.

Date Palms at the Fremont Hub