Palm Tree

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This is a Palm tree; Phoenix dactylifera, Medjool variety, in Galveston, Texas. This Palm is extensively cultivated for its edible fruit, called Dates. Due to their high sugar content, Dates are a basic, fundamental food for North Africa, Arabia and Persia.

Since ancient times, this Palm tree was regarded as a fertility symbol by the Egyptians, represented on coins and monuments by the Carthaginians, and used as an ornament in triumph pageants by the Greeks and Romans. Also, its leaves symbolize peace for Christians and remind us of the triumphal entry Jesus made into Jerusalem.

The name Phoenix dactylifera is derived from:

• phoenix: Phoenician, as the Phoenicians are thought to have spread these trees
• dactylus: date (from Greek dactylos), and
• fero: I bear

In other words, "Phoenician, date-bearing tree." Scientific classification:

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Division: Magnoliophyta
• Class: Liliopsida
• Order: Arecales
• Family: Arecaceae
• Genus: Phoenix
• Species: Phoenix dactylifera

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