Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera)

Pictures

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  Appearance

  Slender palm with lattice pattern on the cane, pinnate leaves and tasty, sweet date fruit.

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  Leaves

  Evergreen, up to 400 cm long, strap-shaped pinnate leaves. Each leaf with up to 200 pairs of pointed leaflets. Leaves are green or slightly grey in colour. Up to 200 leaves in the crown. Ascending, upright. Only the lower leaves hang down. This species has a thinner stem, narrower leaves and lighter crown with fewer fronds than the Canary Island Date Palm.

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  Fruits

  Dark orange, very sweet dates approx. 3 to 8 cm in size. Ripen in September. Mellow pulp.

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  Bark

  The stem is covered with the base of old leaves for years, creating a typical lattice pattern.

Application

Open country, open fields, public areas, parks, kitchen gardens, container plants, roadside verges, crop plant

Native regions

Arabia, North Africa

Location parameters

Light: full sun to sunny; soil: dry to moist; soil structure: normal to airy; soil depth: medium to very deep; humus concentration: low to high, pH value: slightly acid to extremely alkaline; nutrient concentration: low to high; soil: dry to moist.

Demands

Urban climate: resistant; does not tolerate stagnant moisture and compaction.

Hardiness

down to -5 C°

Growth

Height of growth: 25 to 45 m. Spread: 7 to 9 m. Slow-growing, slender tree with columnar trunk and umbrella-like crown.

Leaves

Evergreen, up to 400 cm long, strap-shaped pinnate leaves. Each leaf with up to 200 pairs of pointed leaflets. Leaves are green or slightly grey in colour. Up to 200 leaves in the crown. Ascending, upright. Only the lower leaves hang down. This species has a thinner stem, narrower leaves and lighter crown with fewer fronds than the Canary Island Date Palm.

Flowers

Flowering period: II to VI. Yellow or green inflorescence, 10 to 100 cm in size.

Fruits

Dark orange, very sweet dates approx. 3 to 8 cm in size. Ripen in September. Mellow pulp.

Bark

The stem is covered with the base of old leaves for years, creating a typical lattice pattern.