How does pollen affect dates?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

December 25, 2003

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The genus Phoenix consists of an estimated seventeen species; the date palms are native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. Of all the date palms, only Phoenix dactylifera Linnaeus [fe' nix dak til if' er a] bears large quantities of the sweet fruit. The origin of this 'true date palm' is an archaeological/botanical mystery.

Of all the date palms, only Phoenix dactylifera bears large quantities of sweet fruit.
Fresh Dates (Phoenix Dactylifera) Photographic Print Reinhard
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The date palm is a cultigen, a plant that never existed in a wild state prior to human cultivation. It is one of the first plants humans began cultivating. The palm begins bearing well at about six to eight years of age and can continue for the next hundred years.

The date palm was once believed to have 'evolved' somewhere in northeastern Africa or the Middle East. Recent archaeological evidence indicates that the palm spread from the Indus Valley in Pakistan. The date palm's closest relative is the sugar date palm (Phoenix sylvestris), a native of the Indus Valley that bears a few dates. The date palm probably arose as a unique hybrid or genetic mutation from the sugar date palm.

Date Palm Orchards Near Indio, California, USA

Date growers raising the palms for commercial fruit production must worry about the source of the pollen, the variety of the Phoenix dactylifera used.
Date Palm Orchards Near Indio, California, USA Photographic Print Robert Harding
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Date palms are dioecious; staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate plants. Wind carries the pollen from the male inflorescences to the female inflorescences. All Phoenix palms readily hybridize if the plants are nearby creating palms with characteristics that intergrade (are a blend of both parents). Plant breeders working to produce new varieties of dates must be careful to ensure that the female palms are not pollinated by one of the other Phoenix species. Especially good varieties of the palm are propagated by removing suckers that arise from the base of the palm.

Date growers raising the palms for commercial fruit production must also worry about the source of the pollen. In this instance, it is the variety of the Phoenix dactylifera used and there are hundreds of varieties. Most other plants produce specific fruit (size, color, taste, etc.) determined by the mother's genes. But in date palms, the genetics of the pollen affects the taste, sweetness, and color of the fruit.

The Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia have posted a page about the date palm written by Michael Gray with photographs by David Tanswell and Dennis Johnson. To view the page, click on the link:

http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Phoenix/dactylifera.html

(Compiled from: Hortus Third, Staff of the L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, 1976; "Phoenix dactylifera L.", Handbook of Energy Crops, James A. Duke, 1983; "Natural History of the Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera", Geoff Sanderson, ENHG, August 2001; and the "Date Palm in Oman" from the Oman Observer, The Green Desert, Oman Agriculture website)

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