UoN The Hidden Half: Date Palm (Lulu) - Growth over time

Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date palm, is well known for its sweet fruit. This flowering plant is in the palm family Arecaceae. Date palm trees grow 20m tall and have large leaves that can be 6m long. The dates form at the top of the tree like coconuts. These trees are adapted to arid conditions as they commonly grow in areas with very long hot summers. It is likely that date palms originated in Iraq and have been cultivated since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used the fruit to make wine whilst the palms were popular garden plants for the Romans.

The roots of this young date plant branch horizontally, not at a sloping angle like most species, and the roots branch a lot to create a very dense root system