Plant
Date palm
Phoenix dactylifera
Also known as: Phoenix dactylifera, date
A tall single-trunked palm native to the Persian Gulf region — cultivated continuously across the Middle East and North Africa for at least 6,000 years. The fruit (date) is among the most calorie-dense and storage-stable foods in any traditional human diet; dates were the principal portable food of the camel caravans that crossed the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula. Foundational to Bedouin, Berber, Maghrebi, and Arabian cuisines; central to Islamic dietary practice (the Ramadan iftar tradition begins with dates).
Scientific
Phoenix dactylifera is in Arecaceae (the palm family). Reaches 20+ meters. Each tree produces 100–200 kg of dates per year in optimal conditions, over a productive lifespan of 50–100 years. The species is dioecious (separate male and female trees); commercial orchards use one male per ~50 females, with pollination typically hand-applied to ensure fruit set.
Dates ripen through four stages: kimri (green), khalal (yellow/red, crisp), rutab (soft, partially dried), tamr (fully dried, the dried date of commerce).
Cultural and historical
Domesticated in the Persian Gulf region; cultivated across Mesopotamia, the Levant, North Africa, and into Spain via Islamic agriculture. Date palms appear in Sumerian, Egyptian, and Hebrew records. The Quran mentions dates 22 times; Prophet Muhammad reportedly broke his Ramadan fast each evening with dates and water, establishing a religious tradition still practiced by more than a billion Muslims annually.
In oasis-based desert civilizations, the date palm was the keystone of a three-tier agroforestry: tall date palms for fruit and shade; smaller fruit trees ([[pomegranate|pomegranate]], fig, citrus) in the middle layer; vegetables and grains at ground level. This qaa / waha / oasis agroecology was one of the most sophisticated traditional agricultural systems in the world.
Global production
Top producers: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Iraq, UAE.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[pomegranate]] · [[lentil]] · [[fig]] · [[coconut]] · [[chickpea]] · [[wheat]]
- Member of: [[plants]] · [[mediterranean-ancient-orchard]] · [[seven-species-of-israel]]
Sources
- FAO Crop Statistics
- Wikipedia — Date palm
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Cultural
shares approach with
- Carob Levantine ancient cultivar, wilderness/biblical food, dryland heritage tree.
- Cycad auto-linked from body mention
- Pomegranate Seven-species kin; the date and pomegranate together define the iconography of the Persian and Levantine ancient orchard.
3 inbound links · 9 outbound