What is "date palm"

Date \Date\, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. ?, prob. not the same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.

Note: This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.

Date palm, or Date tree (Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Ph[oe]nix dactylifera. See Illust.

Date plum (Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus ( Diospyros Lotus).

Date shell, or Date fish (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied gener

1. See Pholas.

n. A palm tree, ''Phoenix dactylifera'', whose fruit is the date.

n. tall tropical feather palm tree native to Syria bearing sweet edible fruit [syn: Phoenix dactylifera]

Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around Iraq. The species is widely cultivated and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.

Date trees typically reach about in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system. The leaves are long, with spines on the petiole, and pinnate, with about 150 leaflets. The leaflets are long and wide. The full span of the crown ranges from .