page_title: Date palm
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Date palm / Culture
context_page_description: 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 exact place of origin is uncertain because of long cultivation, it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent region straddling between Egypt and Mesopotamia. The species is widely cultivated across Northern Africa, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and South Asia, and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. P. dactylifera is the type species of genus Phoenix, which contains 12–19 species of wild date palms, and is the major source of commercial production.
  Date trees typically reach about 21–23 metres in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system. Date fruits are oval-cylindrical, 3 to 7 centimetres long, and about 2.5 centimetres in diameter, ranging from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. At about 61-68 percent sugar by mass when dried, dates are a very sweet fruit.
  Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years.
context_section_description: Dates are mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Qur'an. 
  Many Jewish scholars believe that the "honey" reference in the Bible to "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus chapter 3) is actually a reference to date "honey", and not honey from bees.
  In Islamic culture, dates and yogurt or milk are traditionally the first foods consumed for Iftar after the sun has set during Ramadan.
caption: Date Palm in the Coat of arms of Saudi Arabia