Cretan Date Palm
| Cretan Date Palm | ||||||||||||
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Cretan date palms on the palm beach of Vai |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phoenix theophrasti | ||||||||||||
| Greuter |
The Cretan date palm ( Phoenix theophrasti ) is a species of palm that occurs in a few locations on Crete and on the southwest coast of Turkey . It is very similar to the real date palm .
features
The Cretan date palm is a multi-stemmed palm. The trunks are up to 17 m high, the trunk diameter without leaf sheaths is up to 50 cm. The leaves are preserved in the upper trunk section, below the diamond-shaped leaf bases are preserved. The leaves are upright and are 2 to 4 m long. The leaf sheaths are fibrous and reddish brown. The pseudo-stem is 50 to 70 cm long. The acanthophylls ( leaflets transformed into thorns ) are irregular and in more than one plane. On each side of the rhachis there are about 10 pieces that are yellow to orange-green. The leaflets are irregular in one or two levels, about 65 to 100 on each side of the rachis. They are stiff and about 50 cm long and 2 cm wide. The blade is blue-green and often covered with a white layer of wax.
Like all date palms, the species is dioeciously separated sexes ( diocesan ). The male inflorescences stand upright. The cover sheet is leathery, split twice, around 45 × 8 cm in size. The inflorescence stalk is around 40 cm long. The side axes are up to 10 cm long. The male flowers are yellowish-white and have a strong musty odor. The goblet is 2 to 3 mm high. The three, rarely four petals are 8 × 3.5 mm in size. There are six, rarely seven stamens . The female inflorescences stand upright, when the fruit ripe they are curved. The cover sheet is up to 50 × 6 cm in size. The inflorescence stalk extends to 70 cm when the fruit is ripe. There are around 80 lateral axes that become longer as the fruit ripens and reach up to 50 cm. The female flowers are yellow-white. The three-lobed goblet is 2 to 2.5 mm high. The three, rarely four petals are 2 × 3 mm in size.
The fruit is elongated, around 15 × 10 mm in size and green-yellow to brown. The mesocarp is only slightly developed, it is floury and sweet. The seeds have rounded ends and are 11 to 13 × 6 to 7 mm in size. The endosperm is homogeneous.
distribution
The Cretan Date Palm is known from nine locations on the island of Crete, including Vai Beach and Preveli Beach . The species was also found in some locations on the mainland of Asia Minor : on the Datça Peninsula and the Kumluca Karaöz region in southeastern Anatolia at altitudes up to 350 m. A third location in Gölköy near Bodrum is assigned to Phoenix dactylifera by Barrow (1998) . Reports of occurrences on some islands in the eastern Aegean ( Kalymnos , Nisiros , Symi ) are also viewed critically by Barrow.
The Cretan date palm grows in coastal areas on steep limestone cliffs and rocks a few meters from the sea. Other locations are a little further inland along moist valley floors, stream banks and rocky gullies. The presence of palm trees always indicates a water presence. The species is salt tolerant .
According to the IUCN Red List, the species is considered to be “near threatened”. It gives eight populations for Crete and four for Turkey.
Systematics
The Cretan date palm was only described by Werner Greuter in 1967 as a separate species Phoenix theophrasti , the populations were until then set to Phoenix dactylifera . The two species are sister species .
The Cretan date palm has been known since ancient times. Theophrastus of Eresus and Pliny the Elder have described them. Greuter therefore named it after the Greek natural scientist.
supporting documents
- Sasha C. Barrow: A Monograph of Phoenix L. (Palmae: Coryphoideae) . Kew Bulletin, Vol. 53, 1998, pp. 513-575. (JSTOR)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Phoenix theophrasti in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species . Retrieved October 4, 2009.
