Arecaceae
Phoenix

Phoenix dactylifera L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 1188 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Arabian Peninsula to S. Pakistan. It is a tree and grows primarily in the subtropical biome. It is used as animal food and a medicine, has environmental uses and social uses and for fuel and food.

Distribution

Native to:

Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

Introduced into:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, California, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Cayman Is., Central African Republic, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Gambia, Great Britain, Gulf of Guinea Is., India, Leeward Is., Libya, Madeira, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico Northwest, Morocco, Mozambique Channel Is., New Caledonia, Northern Territory, Palestine, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Réunion, Senegal, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, South Australia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Trinidad-Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Vietnam, Western Australia, Western Sahara

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

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Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • Anh, T.T.P. & Henderson, A. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 13: 1-414. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Barry, J. P. & Celles, J.S. (1991). Flore de Mauritanie 2: 360-550. Centre Regional de Documentation Pedagogique, Nice.
  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K. & Monterrosa Salomón, J. (2012). Nova Silva Cusatlantica. Árboles natinos e introducidos de El Salvador. Parte 2: Angiospermae - Familias M a P y Pteridophyta. Englera 29-2: 1-300.
  • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
  • Boulos, L. (2005). Flora of Egypt 4: 1-617. Al Hadara Publishing, Cairo.
  • Boulvert, Y. (1977). Catalogue de la Flore de Centrafrique 3: 1-89. ORSTOM, Bangui.
  • Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis. PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.
  • Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2008). Flora Iberica 18: 1-420. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
  • Danin, A. & Fragman- Sapir, O. (2019). Flora of Israel Online http://flora.org.il/en/plants/.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Dowe, J.L. (2010). Australian palms: biogeography, ecology and systematics: 1-290. CSIRO Publishing.
  • Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia 41: 41-82.
  • Garcillán, P.P. & al. (2013). Plantas no nativas naturalizadas de la península de Baja California, México. Botanical Sciences 91: 461-475.
  • Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Grau, J. (2006). Palms of Chile: 1-203. Ediciones OIKOS Ltda., Santiago de Chile.
  • Gros-Balthazard, M. & al. (2017). The Discovery of Wild Date Palms in Oman Reveals a Complex Domestication History Involving Centers in the Middle East and Africa. Current Biology 27: 1-8.
  • Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford.
  • Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
  • Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.
  • Meyer, J.-Y., Lavergne, C. & Hodel, D.R. (2008). Time bombs in gardens: invasive ornamental palms in tropical islands, with emphasis on French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) and the Mascarenes (Indian Ocean). Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 52: 23-35.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Raffaelli, M., Mosti, S. & Tardelli, M. (2006). Boswellia sacra Flueck. (Burseraceae) in the Hasik area (Eastern Dhofar, Oman) and a list of surrounding flora. Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 61: 245-251.
  • Stace, C. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles ed. 4: 1-1266. C & M Floristics.
  • Watling, D. (2005). Palms of the Fiji Islands: 1-191. Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd., Suva.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

  • S.C. Barrow, A Monograph of Phoenix L. (Palmae: Coryphoideae). 1998

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • F.T.A. 8: 102.
  • Sp. Pl. 1188 (1753)

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • (2022). https://mediahub.bo.berlin/api/File/Original/8139beb3-f1c0-4b9d-bf4a-bfa98f16220f/Cypricola020_Hand_2022_Records-2019-2021.pdf. epublication.
  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • Anh, T.T.P. & Henderson, A. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 13: 1-414. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Barry, J. P. & Celles, J.S. (1991). Flore de Mauritanie 2: 360-550. Centre Regional de Documentation Pedagogique, Nice.
  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K. & Monterrosa Salomón, J. (2012). Nova Silva Cusatlantica. Árboles natinos e introducidos de El Salvador. Parte 2: Angiospermae - Familias M a P y Pteridophyta. Englera 29-2: 1-300.
  • Berhaut, J. (1988). Flore illustrée du Sénégal 9: 1-522. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du développement rural direction des eaux et forêta, Dakar.
  • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
  • Boulvert, Y. (1977). Catalogue de la Flore de Centrafrique 3: 1-89. ORSTOM, Bangui.
  • Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2008). Flora Iberica 18: 1-420. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
  • Danin, A. & Fragman- Sapir, O. (2019). Flora of Israel Online http://flora.org.il/en/plants/.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Dowe, J.L. (2010). Australian palms: biogeography, ecology and systematics: 1-290. CSIRO Publishing.
  • Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia 41: 41-82.
  • Garcillán, P.P. & al. (2013). Plantas no nativas naturalizadas de la península de Baja California, México. Botanical Sciences 91: 461-475.
  • Hassler, M. (2012). Flora of Rhodes. Systematic list of flora of Rhodes http://www.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/~db111/flora/rhodos/list.php.
  • Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford.
  • Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
  • Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Meyer, J.-Y., Lavergne, C. & Hodel, D.R. (2008). Time bombs in gardens: invasive ornamental palms in tropical islands, with emphasis on French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) and the Mascarenes (Indian Ocean). Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 52: 23-35.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Quézel, P. (1958). Mission Botanique au Tibesti: 1-357. Université d'Alger.
  • Raffaelli, M., Mosti, S. & Tardelli, M. (2006). Boswellia sacra Flueck. (Burseraceae) in the Hasik area (Eastern Dhofar, Oman) and a list of surrounding flora. Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 61: 245-251.
  • Stace, C. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles ed. 4: 1-1266. C & M Floristics.
  • Watling, D. (2005). Palms of the Fiji Islands: 1-191. Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd., Suva.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 4, (1995) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • A. Engler & O. Drude, Die Vegetation Der Erde, IX, Pflanzenwelt Afrikas 2: 223 (1908).
  • Becc. in Malesia 3: 355 (1890).
  • C.H. Wright in Flora of Tropical Africa 8: 102 (1901), pro parte.
  • F. W. Andr., The Flowering Plants of the Sudan 3: 304 (1956).
  • L., Sp. Pl.: 1188 (1753).
  • R. O. Williams, Useful and Ornamental Plants in Zanzibar and Pemba p. 410 (1949).
  • T.A. Russell in Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3:169 (1968).
  • Warb. in Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete, Theile C: 130 (1895).

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Dempewolf, H., Eastwood, R. J., Guarino, L., Khoury, C. K., Müller, J. V. & Toll, J. (2014). Adapting agriculture to climate change: a global initiative to collect, conserve, and use crop wild relatives. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38, 369-377.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • RBG, Kew (2021). Kew Economic Botany Collection. https://ecbot.science.kew.org/
  • Ulian, T., Sacandé, M., Hudson, A., & Mattana, E. (2017). Conservation of indigenous plants to support community livelihoods: the MGU–Useful Plants Project. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 60:668-683.
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Jan 16, 1982 Collenette, I.S. [3171] Saudi Arabia K000208710 No
India K:SPC-66425.000 No
India K:SPC-66417.000 No
Hooker; Hanbury, D. [s.n.] K000208696 No
India K:SPC-66553.000 No
Melville, R. [s.n.] K000208677 No
Boulos, L.; Barakat, H. [18436] Egypt K000208706 No
Schimper, W. [250] K000208697 No
Birch Wolfe, T. [s.n.] Algeria K000208723 Yes
Meyers, F.S.; Dinsmore, J.E. [6985] K000208700 No
Simpson, N.D. [5732] Egypt K000208694 No
Turner [s.n.] K000208675 No
India K:SPC-66418.000 No
Kotschy [613] Egypt K000208690 Yes
de Bunge, A. [1] K000208691 No
Boulos, L. [20052] Egypt K000208705 Yes
India K:SPC-66560.000 No
Smith, A.R.; Lavranos, J. [s.n.] Yemen K000731675 No
Cambridge Expedition [18] Libya K000208726 Yes
Boulos, L.; Barakat, H. [18439] Egypt K000208707 No
illegible [1755] Cyprus K000208693 No
Sieber [s.n.] K000208724 Yes
India K:SPC-66411.000 No
Philcox, D. [2269] K000208674 No
illegible [184] K000208689 Yes
Birch Wolfe, T. [s.n.] Algeria K000208722 Yes
illegible [8096] Egypt K000208698 No
American Colony, Jerusalem [2985] Palestine K000208703 No
Hall, T.K. [s.n.] K000208702 No
Fernandez, J. [2863] K000208701 No
Hubbard; Summerhayes; Turrill [s.n.] K000208676 No
Sieber [s.n.] K000208725 Yes
Hayne, W.A. [s.n.] K000208699 No
India K:SPC-66410.000 No
Simpson, N.D. [1826] Egypt K000208692 No
Hooker; Hanbury, D. [s.n.] K000208695 No
Hall, T.K. [s.n.] K000208704 No
India K:SPC-66559.000 No
Egypt K:SPC-66351.000 No
Leonard, J. [3697] Chad K000731674 No
Melville, R.; [Housley, I.E.] [s.n.] K000208673 No

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Kew's Living Collection Database

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0