Date Palm

The Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera is a palm, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. Due to its long history of cultivation for fruit, its exact native distribution is unknown, but the date palm probably originated somewhere in the desert oases of north Africa, and perhaps also southwest Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, 15-25 m tall, often clumped with several trunks from a single root system, but also often growing singly. The leaves are pinnate, up to 3 m long, with spines on the petiole and about 150 leaflets; the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm broad.

Cultivars of dates

A large number of date cultivars are grown. The most important are:

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• 'Aabel' - common in Libya
• 'Amir Hajj' - from Iraq, these are soft with a thin skin and thick flesh.
• ''Abid Rahim' (Arabic: ??? ?????) - from Sudan
• 'Amer' (amir) hajj - called "the visitor's date"
• 'Barakawi' (Arabic: ???????) - from Sudan
• 'Barhee' (barhi) (from Arabic barh, a hot wind) - these are nearly cylindrical, light amber to dark brown when ripe; soft, with thick flesh and rich flavor.
• 'Bireir' (Arabic: ?????) - from Sudan
• 'Deglet Noor' (Arabic: 'translucent') - this is a leading date in Algeria and Tunisia; and in the latter country it is grown in inland oases and is the chief export cultivar. It is semi-dry and not very sweet.
• 'Derrie' or 'Dayri' (the 'Monastery' date) - from southern Iraq - these are long, slender, nearly black, and soft.
• 'Empress'
• 'Ftimi' or 'Alligue' - these are grown in inland oases of Tunisia.
• 'Halawy' (Halawi) (Arabic: 'sweet') - these are soft, and extremely sweet, small to medium in size.
• 'Haleema' - in Hoon, Libya (Haleema is a woman's name)
• 'Hayany' - from Egypt (Hayani) (Hayany is a man's name) - these dates dark-red to nearly black and soft.
• 'Iteema' - common in Algeria
• 'Khadrawy' (Arabic: 'green') - this is the cultivar most favored by Arabs, it is a soft, very dark date considered to be of the highest quality.
• 'Khalasah' (Arabic: 'quintessence')
• 'Khastawi' (Khusatawi, Kustawy) - this is the leading soft date in Iraq; it is syrupy and small in size, prized for dessert.
• 'Maktoom' (Arabic: 'hidden') - this is a large, red-brown, thick-skinned, soft, medium-sweet date.
• 'Manakbir' - a large fruit which ripens early.
• 'Medjool' (Arabic: 'unknown') - from Morocco, also grown in the USA and Israel; a large, sweet and succulent date.
• 'Migraf' (Mejraf) - very popular in Southern Yemen, these are large, golden-amber dates.
• 'Mgmaget Ayuob' - from Hoon, Libya
• 'Mishriq' (Arabic: 'East' - ????)? - from Sudan and Saudi Arabia
• 'Saidy' (Saidi) - soft, very sweet, these are popular in Libya.
• 'Sayer' (Sayir) (Arabic: 'common') - these dates are dark orange-brown, of medium size, soft and syrupy.
• 'Tagyat' - common in Libya
• 'Tamej' - in Libya
• 'Thoory' (Thuri) - popular in Algeria, this dry date is brown-red when cured with a bluish bloom and very wrinkled skin. Its flesh is sometimes hard and brittle but the flavour described as sweet and nutty.
• 'Umeljwary' - in Libya
• 'Zahidi' (Zahdi) (Arabic: 'nobility'?) - these medium size, cylindrical, light golden-brown semi-dry dates are very sugary, and sold as soft, medium-hard and hard.