Cretan Date Palm
| Phoenix theophrasti | |
|---|---|
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| Cretan Date Palm at the beach in Vai, Crete | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Subfamily: | Coryphoideae |
| Tribe: | Phoeniceae |
| Genus: | Phoenix |
| Species: | P. theophrasti |
| Binomial name | |
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Phoenix theophrasti Greuter |
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Phoenix theophrasti, the Cretan date palm, is a palm native to the eastern Mediterranean, with a very restricted distribution, confined to southern Greece, a few sites on Crete and nearby islands as well as some places on the Turkish coast. In Europe, with Chamaerops humilis (palm tree that grows in the Mediterranean) are the unique native palm trees in the continental Europe. In Turkey, it is the only native palm species; all the others—although much more common—were introduced.
The specific epithet theophrasti was chosen by the Swiss botanist Werner Greuter in 1967 for the fact that Theophrastus, the ancient Greek ‘father of botany,’ had described several types of palms, including one from Crete.
Apart from the usually inedible dates and upright fruit clusters, the Cretan species can appear quite similar to the cultivated date (Phoenix dactylifera).
Phoenix theophrasti grows up to 15 m tall, usually with several slender stems. The leaves are pinnate, 2–3 m long, with numerous rigid greyish-green linear leaflets 15–50 cm long on each side of the central rachis. Dead leaves are marcescent, remaining attached to the stem for years after withering. The fruit is an oval yellowish-brown drupe 1.5 cm long and 1 cm diameter and containing a single large seed; the fruit pulp is too thin and fibrous to be of agricultural significance and has an acrid taste, though the fruits are sometimes eaten by the locals.
Sites on Crete include Vai in the Lasithi Prefecture, Ayios Nikitas in Heraklion Prefecture, and Preveli gorge and Souda near Plakias, both on the south coasts of Crete in Rethymnon Prefecture. Trees are also found on Amorgos island, and the south coast of Anafi island. Recently, around 10 trees, the only natural stand on the mainland, were found in an ancient palm forest in the Epidaurus area in Peloponnese. It has been proposed that its range was much more widespread in ancient Greece, growing from Crete to Thebes, and from the Peloponnese to Delos.
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Wikipedia