Editing Date palm (section)

{{short description|Palm tree cultivated for its sweet fruit}}
{{For|other species of date palms|Phoenix (plant)#Species}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc|display-authors=3}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Dates005.jpg
|image_alt = Date bunches on a palm
|genus = Phoenix
|species = dactylifera
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-152659|title=Phoenix dactylifera L. — The Plant List|website=www.theplantlist.org|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417123456/http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-152659|url-status=live}}</ref>
|synonyms = * ''Palma dactylifera'' <small>(L.) Mill.</small>
* ''Phoenix chevalieri'' <small>D.Rivera, S.Ríos & Obón</small>
* ''Phoenix iberica'' <small>D.Rivera, S.Ríos & Obón</small>
}}

'''''Phoenix dactylifera''''', commonly known as the '''date palm''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | access-date = 10 December 2017}}</ref> is a flowering-plant species in the palm family [[Arecaceae]], cultivated for its edible sweet [[#Fruits|fruit]] called '''dates'''. The species is widely cultivated across [[North Africa|northern Africa]], the [[Middle East]], the [[Horn of Africa]], [[Australia]], [[South Asia]], and the desert regions of Southern [[California]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=kew/> It is [[Naturalisation (biology)|naturalized]] in many [[Tropics|tropical]] and [[Subtropics|subtropical]] regions worldwide.<ref name="kew">{{Cite web|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:668912-1|publisher=Plants of the World Online &#124; Kew Science|title=''Phoenix dactylifera'' L.|date=2024|access-date=1 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Phoenix%20dactylifera.png|title=Biota of North America Project, ''Phoenix dactylifera''|access-date=19 April 2014|archive-date=20 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420031950/http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Phoenix%20dactylifera.png|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200027092|title=''Phoenix dactylifera'' in Flora of China @ efloras.org|website=eFloras, Flora of China|access-date=19 April 2014|archive-date=20 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420041036/http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200027092|url-status=live}}</ref> ''P.&nbsp;dactylifera'' is the [[type species]] of genus ''[[Phoenix (plant)|Phoenix]]'', which contains 12–19 species of [[wild date palm]]s.<ref name="Krueger"/>

Date palms reach up to 60–110 feet in height, growing singly or forming a [[Clumping (biology)|clump]] with several stems from a single root system. Slow-growing, they can reach over 100{{nbsp}}years of age when maintained properly.<ref name=Hodel>{{cite book | last1=Hodel | first1=D.R. | last2=Johnson | first2=D.V. | title=Imported and American Varieties of Dates (''Phoenix Dactylifera'') in the United States | publisher=[[University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources]] (UCANR) | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-879906-78-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0XjojWqfqcC&pg=PA13 | access-date=2022-03-24 | page=13 | archive-date=8 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408151042/https://books.google.com/books?id=R0XjojWqfqcC&pg=PA13 | url-status=live }}</ref> Date fruits (dates) are oval-cylindrical, {{convert|3|to|7|cm|abbr=off|in|frac=2}} long, and about {{convert|2.5|cm|in|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} in diameter, with colour ranging from dark brown to bright red or yellow, depending on variety. Containing 61–68{{nbsp}}percent sugar by mass when dried,<ref>{{cite web |title=Dates, deglet noor |url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171726/nutrients |website=FoodData Central |publisher=US Department of Agriculture |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403171801/https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171726/nutrients |url-status=live }}</ref> dates are consumed as sweet snacks on their own or with [[confectionery|confections]].

There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in Arabia from the 6th{{nbsp}}millennium&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="judea">{{Cite journal |last1=Sallon |first1=Sarah |last2=Cherif |first2=Emira |last3=Chabrillange |first3=Nathalie |last4=Solowey |first4=Elaine |last5=Gros-Balthazard |first5=Muriel |last6=Ivorra |first6=Sarah |last7=Terral |first7=Jean-Frédéric |last8=Egli |first8=Markus |last9=Aberlenc |first9=Frédérique |date=2020-02-07 |title=Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies |journal= [[Science Advances]] |language=en |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=eaax0384 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aax0384 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=7002127 |pmid=32076636|bibcode=2020SciA....6..384S }}</ref> Dates are "emblematic of [[oasis]] agriculture and highly symbolic in Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religions".<ref name="judea" />