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FACTS ABOUT THE DATE PALM TREE
All
palms, including the date palm, belong to a group of plants that are
known as monocotyledons. These
plants include grasses, lilies, and orchids. The most common feature about these
plants is that they all start with a single leaf when they germinate from
a seed. During the first year a
date palm tree looks more like grass than a date palm. There are many different varieties of
date palms. The Mallortiea does
not exceed 2 feet and then there is the Ceroxylon of Colombia which can
measure two hundred feet.
Thickness of the palm tree can vary from a few inches to a several
feet. There palms that grow like
vines for several hundred feet and others grow like bushes. Palms can grow in many different
habitats. From seashores, to the
mountains, to the deserts. Some
bear tiny fruit the size of a berry and some 40 pound double
coconuts. Even though we more
commonly referred to palms as palm trees they are not trees and the
characteristics of palms are very different trees.
The
vast majority of palms do not have branches, but there are some palms
that do have branches, such as the palm commonly known as the gingerbread
tree, and called the African doum palm which does produce branches. The gingerbread tree name came about
because the pulp of the fruit resembles the gingerbread.
Palm
trunks can be smooth, rough, and pitted.
When new leaves grow the old die and sometimes fall off. In some palms the leaves do not fall
and form a protective exterior.
Unlike a tree the trunk of the palm has no annual growth
rings. The palm leaves are of two
different types some resemble a fan and some resemble a feather, called
palmate and pinnate. The longest palm leaves measure about 65 feet and
the broadest measure about sixteen feet. The flowers are always very
small. Almost every single palm
fruit regardless of size contains just one seed. There are about 4,000 different species
of palms and about 1,200 grow in the Western
Hemisphere. There are
only 14 species of palms that are native to the United States.
The palmettos are the most common and grow in South
Carolina and Florida. The heart of the cabbage palmetto has
an edible bud which is often sold as the heart of palm. Some of the palmetto fibers are used to
make brushes and whisk brooms which are resistant to hot water and
caustic materials.
In
the wild the date palm tree pollinates naturally, but production is
low. Artificial pollination
increases production substantially. The date palm tree grows from seed,
but there is an even distribution of males and females. For farming purposes the distribution
ratios are not efficient as it takes one male to pollinate about fifty
females. The date palm tree also
produces off shoots which can be cut and planted which produce fruit
about five years earlier than from seed.
This also allows for the control of the male to female ratio. The off shoots can be all male or
female depending on the needs.
Offshoots are only produced under certain conditions. There is a strong correlation between
the amount of fruit produced and the number of shoots produced. When there is an increase in date palm
shoots there is a decrease in fruit and the same is true in reverse if
there is an increase in fruit there is a decrease date palm shoots. If at least one offshoot is left on the
tree it continues to produce offshoots, but if all the offshoots are
removed the date tree will not produce anymore. The quantity and quality of the date
palm fruit is also affected by the number of fruit clusters. Too many clusters will produce poor
quality fruit so the date clusters need to be removed.
The
date fruit needs approximately six months to ripen. In ancient civilizations in the middle
east there were different stages of ripening. These four stages of date ripening were
named kimri, khalal, rutab, and tamar. The kimri stage is where the dates
are green, at the khalal stage the dates have grown to their maximum size
and turn yellowish or reddish depending on the specific variety of
date. The date begins to soften
and loses the bright color at the rutab stage. The fruit is ripe at the tamar stage.
Dates
are classified as soft, semidry, and dry.
The dry dates are the bread dates commonly used in the middle east
for everyday consumption. The
sweeter dates are used as a dessert in the Middle East as well as the United States. Among the sweeter dates is the Medjool
Date which is considered the king of dates and which was once reserved
for royalty.
An
author by the name of Henry Simon in North African Diary of 1913
described the handling of Rhars dates in arabic countries including
Tunisian and Algerian Oases were the growers trampled the soft dates with
their unclean bare feet on animal skins.
Another type of date which was dry called the Meshi Degla was
transported by camel in pairs. The
sacks were left on the ground which as often soiled with animal manure
from donkeys and camels and then reused again. The Deglet Noor was treated
substantially different, because it was primarily an export product. It was packed in wooden crates and
shipped to other countries.
There
are many other varieties of dates grown throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but most are not cultivated for
export or in large quantities. In Algeria and Tunisia the three main
varieties are the Rhars (vigorous grower), the dry Meshi Degla(purgative
seedling) which is a basically a bread date; and the semidry Deglett Noor
(date of light). In the United States
the Deglet Noor is one of the dates commonly cultivated.
One of the rarest and most prized varieties is the
Menakher (Nose Date) which as never sold for export and the few palms
that existed where jealously guarded by their growers.
Morocco, Egypt,
Iraq
and the other Persian Gulf Countries have their own distinct
varieties. Many of those varieties
are never exported, because they are soft dates. Among them is Hayany of Egypt; the Khalas(quintessence) of Arabia;
and the Barhee, Halawy(the sweet), and
Khadrawy(the verdant) of Iraq
and Syria. A few of these dates are also grown in California in
small quantities.
The
Medjool (unknown) of Morocco
is know for its unusually large size and it is renowned for its
flavor. The Medjool date is a
large and dark and can grow to about three inches and even though it is
classified as a soft date it is much firmer and more resilient than other
soft dates and handles better. The Medjool date made its way to the United States
through the United States Department of Agriculture. There was a disease in Morocco that was spreading quickly among
the Medjool date palm trees and a Moroccan official gave some shoots to a
representative from the USDA which in turn were taken and planted in California. The Medjool is now thriving in California as one
of the top varieties of dates.
Date
palm trees can yield from about 100 to 300 pounds of dates per tree. One of the most important factors is
the amount of water they receive.
The date palm can absorb a lot of water. Date palms can also resist very cold weather
and have known to survive in subfreezing temperatures. The date palms are usually insect and parasite
free, but can be attacked from time to time by fungi and scale
insects. The cultivation of dates
was very labor intensive and even to date continues to be labor intensive
and dangerous. Before planting
enormous holes were dug measuring eight feet deep and were eight feet
square. Often the holes were dug
on hard materials including limestone. The holes were then filled with
manure and top soil for about five feet and the remainder was slowly
filled around the newly planted date palm tree. The date palm was below
ground level, but this allowed for better watering and it provides
protection from the hot winds and the sun. Arabs traditionally harvested by
cutting the entire cluster, but many American farmers hand picked each
individual date as the fruit ripens.
Prior to harvesting in many American farms the dates are first
prepared by cutting down the amount of fruit on each cluster to allow the
air to circulate and permit more uniform ripening of the date. This means that the date will
necessarily cost more cultivate and harvest in American farms and will
necessarily result in a higher price.
Generally speaking imported dates are not as good as American
grown dates, because of the more labor intensive cultivating techniques
used on American farms, but this is not always the case.
The
date palm tree can grow in many different areas, but for the date palm to
produce quality fruit it is necessary that the climate be one of very
little rain and the climate also needs to be hot. At the same time the date palm requires
large amounts of water. In many
American farms the fruit from the date palm tree is protected against
possible rain, birds and insects by placing a Para fined paper bag around
the date cluster. This done
because of the ease with which rain can ruin dates. There is an opening around the wrapping
to permit air to circulate inside the wrapping to allow the dates to
ripen properly. In California
date farms a bell shaped paper cloak is placed around the fruit. Almost California date farms utilize this
technique to protect the date. California grown dates can be seen with this
seemingly peculiar wrapping throughout the Coachella Valley. The Medjool Date as well as other
varieties are protected using this same technique throughout the Coachella Valley. Upon reaching the final stage and fully
ripening the date is no longer as susceptible to rain and humidity. A few date varieties are much more
vulnerable to moisture and usually not economical to cultivate and
therefore not cultivated on a commercial scale or at all. In the United
States the Rhars date is not grown commercially in
the United States
because of its susceptibility to damage from moisture or rain. Soft dates are much more difficult to
handle and cultivate and require extensive care and handling.
Dates
can be grown from offshoots and seeds, but are almost always grown from
offshoots. The primary reason is
that there is a shorten time period to harvest if the date is grown from
an off shoot and the date palm from seed rarely has the same qualities as
the parent plant. The seed can in
fact be used successfully for creating new varieties of dates, but just
as it can create a superior variety it can also create and inferior
variety.
The
date palm tree can grow up to about 100 feet and can live for 200
years. The date palm trunk is has
a spiral pattern that is formed with the base of earlier formed leaves.
The leaves of a date palm are about 12 to 20 feet and have a grayish to
bluish green color. The end of the leaf fronds are needle sharp. The
flowers on date palm trees are borne in bunches at the top of the tree.
The female date palm trees produce fruit, and one male tree can produce
enough pollen to pollinate about 50 female trees. The fruit of the date
palm tree has one seed, and the fruit can vary in size, shape, color and
quality of flesh. Dates are green in color, maturing to yellow, then into
reddish-brown when fully ripe, but this is not true for all
varieties. A single large bunch
may contain more than a thousand dates, and can weigh about 20 pounds.
Each tree can produce over 100 pounds of dates. Date palm trees can begin
to bear fruit at 3 to 5 years, and are fully mature at about 10-12 years.
Date palm trees can be propagated by seed, but the probability of
obtaining a female is 50%t and excessive male plants are undesirable
since they can only be used to pollinate.
New date palm trees from seed also less desirable because it takes
significantly longer to produce fruit. Most new date palm trees are
propagated by the offshoots taken from the mature female. The date palm
tree requires high temperatures and low air humidity for fruit to set and
ripen the optimum temperature for pollen germination is about 95 degrees
Fahrenheit. Date palm trees
require a constant water supply.
Desert conditions are ideal, but a lot of water is also required.
Wild
date trees are morphologically and ecologically similar to domesticated
dates but have smaller, inedible fruits. There have been many escapes
from cultivation which mixed with wild date trees.
These hybrids between wild and
domesticated dates make it difficult to distinguish the domesticated
populations from the wild. There
may date trees around the Iran Iraq border and in Jordan which are believed to be remnants
of wild populations present in areas of Jordan.
Date
palm trees start producing fruit after about 4-5 years and reach full
production after about 10-12 years.
Date-producing countries include Algeria,
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq,
Libya, Morocco, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria,
Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. There are an estimated 600 different
varieties of dates that are regularly cultivated. The Saudi Arabia,
Madinah's date market consists of about 150 varieties of dates, of which
the most popular is called Anbara, which is also the most expensive date.
Some dates are self curing and cure on the tree. Soft dates require
harvesting at an appropriate time and sun drying to increase sugar
content to prevent spoilage.
The
date palm tree is also used extensively as an ornamental tree. The date palm can tolerate high
salinity of up to 22,000 parts per million. It is believed that the dates were
introduced into Spain
by the Moors and into the Americas
by the Spanish. Modern date production in U.S.
started with clones obtained directly by USDA in East and North Africa and then
planted in Coachella Valley,
California.
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