Phoenix sylvestris (sylvestris - Latin, of the forest) also known as silver date palm, Indian date, sugar date palm or wild date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to southern Pakistan, most of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh. It is also reportedly naturalized in Mauritius, the Chagos Archipelago, Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands. Growing in plains and scrubland up to 1300 m above sea level, the fruit from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly. The sap is tapped and drunk fresh or fermented into toddy. The fresh sap is boiled to make palm jaggery in West Bengal state of India and Bangladesh.
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Description
Phoenix sylvestris ranges from 4 to 15 m in height and 40 cm in diameter; not as large as the Canary Island Date Palm, but nearly so, and resembling it. The leaves are 3 m long, gently recurved, on 1 m petioles with acanthophylls near the base. The leaf crown grows to 10 m wide and 7.5 to 10 m tall containing up to 100 leaves. The inflorescence grows to 1 metre with white, unisexual flowers forming to a large, pendent infructescence. The single-seeded fruit ripens to a purple-red colour.
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Information
- Origin: India
- Hardiness Zone: 8B-11
- Growth Rate: Slow to moderate
- Survival Temperature: 22 °F/-5.5 °C
- Salt Tolerance: Moderate to high
- Drought Tolerance: High
- Soil Requirements: Widely adaptable
- Light Requirements: High
- Nutritional Requirements: Moderate
- Uses: Specimen tree
- Major Pest Problems: None
- Trunk or Stem Characteristics: Robust, with diamond a skirt of aerial roots at base and persistent leaf bases above.
- Leaf Type: Pinnately compound, induplicate; lower leaflets modified into spines; 200 - 250 leaflets arranged in groups of 2 or 3, often cross-crossing. Canopy of 100 leaves 9-12 feet long.
- Foliage Color: Blue-green Leaf Size: 9-12' long; leaflets .5-1.5' long, 1" wide Petiole: 3' long, armed with leaflets spines.
- Crown-shaft: None
- Inflorescence: 2-3" long, much branched, borne from among the leaves
- Gender: Separate male and female plants
- Tree Height: Usually up to 40 feet
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
- Danger: Plant has spines or sharp edges; use extreme caution when handling
- Bloom time: Late Spring/Early Summer
- Bloom color: Cream/Tan
- Propagation Methods: From seed; germinate in a damp paper towel & From seed; germinate in vitro in gelatin, agar or other medium
- Seed collecting: Remove fleshy coating on seeds before storing
Properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored
- Soil pH requirements: 6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic) ;6.6 to 7.5 (neutral) ;7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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