Hyphaene thebaica: Difference between revisions
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'''''Hyphaene thebaica''''', with common names '''doum palm''' (Ar: دوم) and '''gingerbread tree''' (also '''doom palm'''), is a type of [[palm tree]] with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the [[Arabian Peninsula]] and also to the northern half of [[Africa]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=101434|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=apps.kew.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-02-26}}</ref> where it is widely distributed and tends to grow in places where groundwater is present. It has been shown that dietary supplementation with doum palm [[extract]] has [[hypotensive]] and [[hypolipidemic]] effects.{{reference needed|date=October 2018}} |
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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The doum palm is a dioecious palm and grows up to {{convert|17|m|0|abbr=on}} high. The trunk, which can have a girth of up to {{convert|90|cm|0|abbr=on}}, branches [[Dichotomy|dichotomously]] and has tufts of large leaves at the ends of the branches. The bark is fairly smooth, dark grey and bears the scars of fallen leaves. The [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]] (leaf stalks) are about a metre long, sheathing the branch at the base and armed with stout upward-curving claws. The leaves are fan shaped and measure about {{convert|120|by|180|cm|0|abbr=on}}. Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The [[inflorescence]]s are similar in general appearance, up to about {{convert|1.2|m|0|abbr=on}} long, branching irregularly and with two or three spikes arising from each branchlet. Female trees produce large woody fruits, each containing a single seed, that remain on the tree for a long period.<ref name=Agroforestry>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=983 |title=Factsheet: ''Hyphaene thebaica'' |website=AgroForestryTree Database |publisher=World Agroforestry Centre |accessdate=2014-02-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302054303/http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=983 |archivedate=2014-03-02 |df= }}</ref> |
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==Distribution and habitat== |
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The doum palm is native to the northern half of Africa. It is widespread in the [[Sahel]] and grows from [[Mauritania]] and [[Senegal]] in the west, through [[Central Africa]], and east to [[Egypt]], [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]]. It tends to grow in areas where groundwater is present and is found along the [[Nile River]] in [[Egypt]] and [[Sudan]], in [[riverine]] areas of northwestern [[Kenya]], and along the Niger River in West Africa. It is also native to the [[Levant]] and the [[Arabian Peninsula]] ([[Israel]], [[Sinai]], [[Yemen]] and [[Saudi Arabia]]) and is reportedly naturalized in the [[Netherlands Antilles]] in the [[Caribbean]].<ref>http [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=101434 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Hyphaene thebaica'' ]</ref> It grows in [[wadi]]s and at [[Oasis|oases]], but sometimes occurs away from water and on rocky hillsides. It dislikes waterlogged soils and is very resistant to destruction by bushfires.<ref name=Agroforestry/> |
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==Uses== |
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[[File:Hyphaene thebaica MS 6652.JPG|thumb|150px|''Hyphaene thebaica'' - Doum palm]] |
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[[File:Hyphaene thebaica Bild0917.jpg|thumb|150px|''Hyphaene thebaica'' - Doum palm]] |
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[[File:Dum palm products.JPG|thumb|150px|Harvested by-products of the Doum palm]] |
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The doum palm flourishes in hot dry regions where little else grows and the tree is appreciated for the shade it provides. All parts of the tree are useful, but probably the most important product is the leaves. The fibre and leaflets are used by people along the Niger and Nile Rivers to weave baskets, such as in the [[material culture of the Manasir]]. Other things made from the leaves are mats, coarse textiles, brooms, ropes, string and thatch.<ref name=Agroforestry/> The timber is used for posts and poles, furniture manufacture and beehives, and the tree provides wood for fuel. The leaf stalks are used for fencing and the fibre is used for textiles. Other products include fishing rafts, brooms, hammocks, carpets, buttons and beads.<ref name=Infonet>{{cite web|url=http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/748/agroforestry |title=Doum palm |date=2011-08-08 |publisher=Infonet Biovision |accessdate=2014-02-26 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919171821/http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/748/agroforestry |archivedate=2012-09-19 |df= }}</ref> |
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===Food=== |
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The doum palm fruit-dates are also known in [[Eritrea]] as Akat, or Akaat in the [[Tigre language]]. The thin dried brown [[peel (fruit)|rind]] is made into [[molasses]], [[cakes]], and [[sweetmeats]]. The unripe kernels are edible. The shoots of the germinated seeds are also eaten as a vegetable.<ref>Facciola, S., ''Cornucopia, A Source Book of Edible Plants'' Kampong.</ref> In [[Egypt]], the fruit is sold in herbalist shops, and is popular among children, gnawing its sweet yet sour hard fibrous flesh beneath the shiny hard crust. In [[Diu, India|Diu]], [[Una, Gujarat|Una]] and [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] region of [[Gujarat]] (India), the tree is known as ''Hoka Tree'' and the red ripe edible fruit is known as ''Hoka''. In northern part of Nigeria, among the [[Hausa people]], it's known as "Goruba". Apart from the use of the fruit as food, juice is extracted from the young fruit and palm wine is prepared from the sap.<ref name=Infonet/> |
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===Egyptian tombs=== |
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Doum palm was considered sacred by the [[Ancient Egypt]]ians, and the seed was found in many pharaoh's tombs. On September 24, 2007, it was announced that a team of Egyptian archaeologists led by [[Zahi Hawass]], discovered eight baskets of 3,000-year-old doum fruit in King [[Tutankhamun]]'s tomb. The fruit baskets were each 50 centimetres high, the [[antiquities]] department said. The fruit are traditionally offered at [[funerals]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/25/2042391.htm|title=Fruit hamper found in King Tut's tomb|date=2007-09-25|work=ABC News|access-date=2018-02-26|language=en-AU}}</ref> |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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* [http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=14&id=849 Hyphaene thebaica] in Brunken, U., Schmidt, M., Dressler, S., Janssen, T., Thombiano, A. & Zizka, G. 2008. West African plants - A Photo Guide. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main. |
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==External links== |
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{{Commons category|Hyphaene thebaica}} |
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{{Wikispecies|Hyphaene thebaica}} |
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* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HYTH2 USDA profile - ''Hyphaene thebaica''] |
* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HYTH2 USDA profile - ''Hyphaene thebaica''] |
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* [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/trees.htm Egypt: Trees in Egypt - ''Doom Tree''] |
* [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/trees.htm Egypt: Trees in Egypt - ''Doom Tree''] |
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Revision as of 22:51, 26 March 2019
| Hyphaene thebaica Doum palm | |
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| Doum Palm in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka | |
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| Species: | H. thebaica
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| Hyphaene thebaica | |
i has big w e e n
Description
- USDA profile - Hyphaene thebaica
- Egypt: Trees in Egypt - Doom Tree
- Palm Fruit in Africa - Doum Fruit
- ^ Cosiaux, A., Gardiner, L.M. & Couvreur, T.L.P. (2017). Hyphaene thebaica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T19017230A95306916. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T19017230A95306916.en. Downloaded on 28 September 2018.