Palm trees have been the best friend of Egyptians since the dawn of time. Engulfing whole communities and vast expanses of land, the date palm tree has always been deeply embedded in the social fabric of people in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world.
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Date Palm Tree in Al Ahsa Oasis
Native Palm Species in Ancient Egypt
Trees in ancient Egypt were comparatively rare, and quality timber had to be imported from abroad. Native species included acacia, tamarisk, date and dom palm, persia and sycamore fig (Ficus sycomorus). In addition to associations with life, fecundity and rebirth, trees were also a source of food, such as dates and dom nuts.
The Manchester Museum holds two complementary objects that illustrate the Egyptians’ dexterity in the practicalities of retrieving this produce. From the Middle Kingdom pyramid-builders town of Kahun comes a palm-fibre sling (Acc. No. 102), most likely used as an aid in climbing trees. On a New Kingdom faience bowl from Gurob (Acc. No. 655) is a lively scene of a small boy doing just that - perhaps helped (or discouraged?) by another figure at the foot of the tree. Date collecting in the Faiyum.
Faience vessel showing a boy climbing a palm tree to collect dates
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The Significance of Date Palm Trees
Palm trees are the source of dates. The coastal palm trees have red and yellow dates that ripen quickly; dates are a very delicious seasonal fruit. In 2020, Egypt produced 1.7 million tons of dates, which constitutes over 21 percent of global date production, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The weather and humidity affect the taste.
Locals have made the best out of palm trees. The palm leaves are used for both shelters and for making fire. A shelter made by palm leaves and wood gives a beautiful, earthy feeling. The wood from dead palm trees can make beautiful buildings or a cozy setting on the seashore.
Palm trees in Egypt
Medemia argun: A Rare and Vulnerable Species
Medemia argun is a rare species of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) native to Egypt and Sudan. Medemia argun is a robust, solitary-stemmed, dioecious palm up to 10 m (33 ft) tall with fan leaves forming a dense rounded crown. It grows in extreme desert conditions.
Medemia argun is found only in oases inside of the Nubian Desert, in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The global population is divided in several sub-populations, with the most important (>90%) part of the population occurring in northern Sudan. In Egypt, only 32 individuals were counted at Dungul Oases in 2007 (Ibrahim and Baker 2009). The global population of Medemia argun was estimated at 7,400 individuals in the middle of the 2000s.
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The palm is an IUCN Red List vulnerable species, due to habitat loss and artisanal mining. Mining activities within the distribution of Medemia argun result in major landscape disturbance due to large scale excavations and tunneling. In addition, the mining companies seek ground water by drilling holes and digging exploration trenches, which cause both severe habitat degradation and destruction for the species. In Egypt, the species occurs in Wadi Allaqi Biosphere Reserve and Dungul Oasis.
In 2003 an ex situ conservation experiment was done in University of Aswan, Egypt, where 21 seedlings had been planted in the University desert garden. Some of them are now fruiting.
Phoenix: A Genus of Diverse Habitats
Phoenix is a genus of 14 species of palms, native to an area starting from the Canary Islands in the west, across northern and central Africa, to the extreme southeast of Europe (Crete), and continuing throughout southern Asia, from Anatolia east to southern China and Malaysia. The diverse habitats they occupy include swamps, deserts, and mangrove sea coasts. Most Phoenix species originate in semi-arid regions, but usually occur near high groundwater levels, rivers, or springs.
This genus is mostly medium to robust in size, but also includes a few dwarf species; trunks are solitary in four species, suckering and clumped in nine, of which one has a prostrate ground trunk. Many of the trunked species do not form above-ground stems for several years. The pinnate leaves, 1-6 m long, all share the common feature of metamorphosed lower-leaf segments into long, vicious spines (acanthophylls). The leaves have short or absent petioles and possess the rare feature among pinnate palms of induplicate (V-shaped) leaflets.
The plants are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; pollination is by both wind and insect. The flowers are inconspicuous yellowish-brown and about 1 cm wide, but grouped on conspicuous large multibranched panicles 30-90 cm long. The inflorescence emerges from a usually boat-shaped, leathery bract, forming large, pendent clusters.
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Close relationship among the 14 species is illustrated by the ease of hybridisation and cross-pollination. Several natural hybrids were hence obtained: P. dactylifera × P. sylvestris (India), P. dactylifera × P. canariensis (Morocco, Algeria and Israel), and P. dactylifera × P.
While P. dactylifera is grown for its edible dates, the Canary Island date palm (P. canariensis) and pygmy date palm (P. roebelenii) are widely grown as ornamental plants, but their dates are used as food for livestock and poultry. The Canary Island date palm differs from the date palm in having a stouter trunk, more leaves to the crown, more closely spaced leaflets, and deep green rather than grey-green leaves.
Palm Trees as a Symbol of Climate Action
Whenever climate solutions are discussed, projects that are deemed more profitable for the private sector are seen as a better alternative to nature-based solutions. A wide scale plantation of date palm trees across the Arab world, similar to the Amazon’s rainforest, can help make it the “world’s future lungs”, according to research by Adel Sharif and Mohammed Taleb.
“We see an opportunity to extract sugar from the palm tree, which can help in the production of sugar as an alternative to the production of sugar from sugar cane.
Palm trees and climate action
Whether you’re a botany enthusiast, a beach lover, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of nature, palm trees have a universal appeal that transcends cultural boundaries.
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