Phoenix

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Arecales

Familia: Arecaceae
Subfamilia: Coryphoideae
Tribus: Phoeniceae
Genus: Phoenix
Species: P. acaulis – P. atlantica – P. caespitosa – P. canariensis – P. dactylifera – P. loureiroi – P. paludosa – P. pusilla – P. reclinata – P. roebelenii – P. rupicola – P. sylvestris – P. theophrasti

P. acaulis - P - P. caespitosa - P. canariensis - P. dactylifera - s - P. theophrastii

Unplaced names: P. andamanensis
Name

Phoenix L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1188 (1753); Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 496 (1754).

Type species: Phoenix dactylifera L. Sp. Pl. 2: 1188 (1753) (by monotypy)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Elate L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1189 (1753).
Palma Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4 (1754).
Dachel Adans., Fam. 2: 25, 548 (1763).
Phoniphora Neck., Elem. Bot. 3: 302 (1790), opus utique oppr.
Fulchironia Lesch. in R.L.Desfontaines, Tabl. École Bot., ed. 3: 29 (1829).
Zelonops Raf., Fl. Tellur. 2: 102 (1837).

Homonyms

Phoenix Haller (1768) = Chrysopogon Trinius (1820)

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Northern Europe
Great Britain (introduced).
Regional: Southwestern Europe
Spain (introduced).
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Greece, Italy (introduced), Kriti, Sicilia (introduced).
Continental: Africa
Regional: Northern Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara (introduced).
Regional: Macaronesia
Azores (introduced), Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira (introduced).
Regional: West Tropical Africa
Benin, Burkina, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania (introduced), Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.
Regional: West-Central Tropical Africa
Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Islands (introduced), Rwanda, Zaire.
Regional: Northeast Tropical Africa
Chad (introduced), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Socotra (introduced), Somalia, Sudan.
Regional: East Tropical Africa
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda.
Regional: South Tropical Africa
Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Regional: Southern Africa
Botswana, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces.
Regional: Western Indian Ocean
Comoros, Mauritius, Mozambique Channel Islands (introduced), Madagascar, Réunion (introduced).
Continental: Asia-Temperate
Regional: Western Asia
Afghanistan (introduced), East Aegean Islands, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Sinai (introduced), Turkey.
Regional: Arabian Peninsula
Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.
Regional: China
China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast.
Regional: Eastern Asia
Taiwan.
Continental: Asia-Tropical
Regional: Indian Subcontinent
Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya.
Regional: Indo-China
Andaman Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Vietnam.
Regional: Malesia
Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera.
Continental: Australasia (introduced)
Regional: Australia
Norfolk Islands, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia.
Regional: New Zealand
New Zealand North.
Continental: Pacific
Regional: Southwestern Pacific
Fiji, New Caledonia (introduced).
Continental: Northern America (introduced)
Regional: Southwestern U.S.A.
California.
Regional: Southeastern U.S.A.
Florida.
Regional: Mexico
Mexico Northwest.
Continental: Southern America (introduced)
Regional: Central America
El Salvador.
Regional: Caribbean
Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago.
Regional: Western South America
Bolivia.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 1188. Reference page.
Linnaeus, C. 1754. Genera Plantarum, ed. 5: 496. Reference page.

Additional references

Barrow, S.C. 1998. A Monograph of Phoenix L. (Palmae: Coryphoideae). Kew Bulletin 53(3): 513–575. DOI: 10.2307/4110478 Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2024. Phoenix in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2024 Aug 17. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2024. Phoenix. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 17 Aug 2024.
International Plant Names Index. 2024. Phoenix. Published online. Accessed: 17 Aug 2024. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2024. World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. . Phoenix. Accessed: 17 Aug 2024.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Phoenix in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Dadelpalms
العربية: تبلية
беларуская: Фінікавая пальма
словѣньскъ / ⰔⰎⰑⰂⰡⰐⰠⰔⰍⰟ: Фїнїѯъ
dansk: Daddelpalme
Deutsch: Dattelpalmen
English: Date Palm
Esperanto: Daktilpalmo
suomi: Taatelit
Nordfriisk: Datelpualmer
français: Dattiers
עברית: תמר (עץ)
Nederlands: Dadelpalmen
polski: Daktylowiec
русский: Финиковая пальма
Tiếng Việt: Chi Chà là
中文: 剌葵屬

Phoenix is a genus of 14 species of palms, native to an area starting from the Canary Islands in the west, across northern and central Africa, to the extreme southeast of Europe (Crete), and continuing throughout southern Asia, from Anatolia east to southern China and Malaysia.[3] The diverse habitats they occupy include swamps, deserts, and mangrove sea coasts. Most Phoenix species originate in semi-arid regions, but usually occur near high groundwater levels, rivers, or springs. The genus is unusual among members of subfamily Coryphoideae in having pinnate, rather than palmate leaves; tribe Caryoteae also have pinnate or bipinnate leaves.[4]

The palms were more numerous and widespread in the past than they are at present. Some Phoenix palms have become naturalised in other parts of the world; in particular, the date palm's long history of cultivation means that escaped plants in the past have long-since become ingrained into the native ecosystems of countries far from its original range in the Middle East.
Etymology

The generic name derives from φοῖνιξ (phoinix) or φοίνικος (phoinikos), the Greek word for the date palm used by Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder. It most likely referred to either the Phoenicians; Phoenix, the son of Amyntor and Cleobule in Homer's Iliad; or the phoenix, the sacred bird of Ancient Egypt.[5]
Description

This genus is mostly medium to robust in size, but also includes a few dwarf species; trunks are solitary in four species, suckering and clumped in nine, of which one has a prostrate ground trunk. Many of the trunked species do not form above-ground stems for several years. The pinnate leaves, 1–6 m long, all share the common feature of metamorphosed lower-leaf segments into long, vicious spines (acanthophylls). The leaves have short or absent petioles and possess the rare feature among pinnate palms of induplicate (V-shaped) leaflets. The plants are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; pollination is by both wind and insect. The flowers are inconspicuous yellowish-brown and about 1 cm wide, but grouped on conspicuous large multibranched panicles 30–90 cm long. The inflorescence emerges from a usually boat-shaped, leathery bract, forming large, pendent clusters. Phoenix fruit develops from one carpel as a berry, 1–7 cm long, yellow to red-brown or dark purple when mature, with one elongated, deeply grooved seed.

Ecology

A majority of the forest palms grow under the shade of dominating forests trees along fragile hill slopes and stream courses in warm, humid conditions. The palms are found growing on a wide variety of soils, often extending to degraded forest margins in grasslands. In the tropics, most are found below 1250 m altitude. Branching of the aerial trunk is rare and is mainly induced by injury to the terminal growing bud. Flowering and fruit are regular and annual.

The reproduction is by seeds and by vegetative multiplication. Many species of Phoenix produce vegetative offshoots called bulbils from basal portions of their stems which, on rooting, develop new saplings. Close relationship among the 14 species is illustrated by the ease of hybridisation and cross-pollination.[6] Several natural hybrids were hence obtained: P. dactylifera × P. sylvestris (India), P. dactylifera × P. canariensis (Morocco, Algeria and Israel), and P. dactylifera × P. reclinata (Senegal). Phoenix species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Paysandisia archon and the Batrachedra species B. amydraula (recorded on P. dactylifera), B. arenosella and B. isochtha (feeds exclusively on Phoenix spp.). They are also hosts to the palm weevil borer Diocalandra frumenti.[7]
Uses
P. sylvestris synonym Phoenix sylvestris has edible sweet fruits.

The fruit of P. dactylifera, the date of commerce, is large with a thick layer of fruit pulp, edible, very sweet and rich in sugar; the other species have only a thin layer of fruit pulp. The central soft part of the stem of P. rupicola, P. acaulis, and P. humilis is a rich source of starch. Palms are felled to extract this central ‘pith’ which is dried, powdered, stored and used for preparation of bread in the Indian subcontinent.[8] The P. canariensis sap is cooked to a sweet, thick syrup. P. sylvestris Roxb. is widely used in India as a source of sugar. The sugary sap from some African palms yields country liquor on fermentation (palm wine).

While P. dactylifera is grown for its edible dates, the Canary Island date palm (P. canariensis) and pygmy date palm (P. roebelenii) are widely grown as ornamental plants, but their dates are used as food for livestock and poultry. The Canary Island date palm differs from the date palm in having a stouter trunk, more leaves to the crown, more closely spaced leaflets, and deep green rather than grey-green leaves. The fruit of P. canariensis is edible, but rarely eaten by humans because of their small size and thin flesh.

The different species of the genus frequently hybridise where they grow in proximity. This can be a problem when planting P. canariensis as an ornamental plant, as the hybrid palms are aesthetically inferior and do not match the pure-bred plants when planted in avenues, etc.
Species

Image	Scientific Name	Common Name	Distribution
	Phoenix acaulis Roxb.	dwarf date palm	Himalayas
	Phoenix andamanensis S.C.Barrow		Andaman Islands
	Phoenix atlantica A.Chev.,	Cape Verde palm	endemic to the Cape Verde Islands, erroneously characterized as a feral P. dactylifera[9][10]
	Phoenix caespitosa Chiov.		Djibouti, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman
	Phoenix canariensis J. Benjamin Chabaud	Canary Island date palm	native to Canary Islands, naturalized in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Azores, Madeira, Spain, Portugal, Southern Europe, Cabo Verde, South Africa, Northern Africa, Middle East, India, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bermuda
	Phoenix dactylifera L.	date palm	probably native to southwestern Asia, naturalized in Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, northern and western Africa, Mauritius, Réunion, China, India, Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, California, Baja California, Sonora, El Salvador, Caribbean
	Phoenix loureiroi Kunth (syn. P. humilis)		China, India, Himalayas, Indochina, Philippines
	Phoenix paludosa Roxb.	mangrove date palm	Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Sumatra, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
	Phoenix pusilla Gaertn.	Ceylon date palm	India, Sri Lanka
	Phoenix reclinata Jacq.	Senegal date palm	Africa, Comoros, Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula
	Phoenix roebelenii O'Brien	pygmy date palm	Yunnan, Indochina
	Phoenix rupicola T.Anderson	cliff date palm	Assam, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, naturalized in Andaman Islands and West Indies
	Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb.	Indian date palm	Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar; naturalized in southern China and the West Indies
	Phoenix theophrasti Greuter	Cretan date palm[11]	Turkey, Greek Islands

.
Fossil record

A large number of fossil woods with anatomical features resembling the genus Phoenix have been excavated from Deccan Intertrappean formation in India of Maastrichtian-Danian age (65-67 my). Discovery of biocompounds from the fossil woods have affinity with the biocompounds known from modern Phoenix species.[12]

A Phoenix seed from the latest Paleocene has been excavated from the Petit Pâtis quarry in Rivecourt, France.[13]
References

Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 1188. 1753. Type:P. dactylifera
"Phoenix L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2004-10-15. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Riffle, Robert L. & Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6
Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. III M-Q. CRC Press. p. 2046. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.
Moore, 1963; Munier, 1973[full citation needed]
"Diocalandra frumenti: hosts". EPPO Global Database. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
Kulkarni, A. R.; Mulani, R. M. (25 June 2004). "Indigenous palms of India" (PDF). Current Science. Vol. 86, no. 12. pp. 1598–1603. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-11-05.
Henderson S, Gomes I, Gomes S, Baker W (2003). "Phoenix in the Cape Verde Islands". Palms. 47 (1). Archived from the original on 2017-12-02.
Henderson, S. A.; Billotte, N.; Pintaud, J.-C. (2006). "Genetic isolation of Cape Verde Island Phoenix atlantica (Arecaceae) revealed by microsatellite markers". Conservation Genetics. 7 (2): 213–223. doi:10.1007/s10592-006-9128-7. S2CID 8161550.
"Species Records of Phoenix". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
Dinesh Chandra Sharma; Mohd Sajid Khan; M Salman Khan; Rashmi Srivastava; Ashwini Kumar Srivastava; Ritu Shukla (2014). "A report on biocompounds from palm fossil of India" (PDF). Bioinformation. 10 (5): 316–319. doi:10.6026/97320630010316. PMC 4070043. PMID 24966541. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
Smith T, Quesnel F, De Plöeg G, De Franceschi D, Métais G, De Bast E, et al. (January 29, 2014). "First Clarkforkian Equivalent Land Mammal Age in the Latest Paleocene Basal Sparnacian Facies of Europe: Fauna, Flora, Paleoenvironment and (Bio)stratigraphy". PLOS ONE. 9 (1). e86229. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...986229S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086229. PMC 3906055. PMID 24489703.
The PLOS ONE Staff (March 25, 2014). "Correction: First Clarkforkian Equivalent Land Mammal Age in the Latest Paleocene Basal Sparnacian Facies of Europe: Fauna, Flora, Paleoenvironment and (Bio)stratigraphy". PLOS ONE. 9 (3). e93249. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...993249.. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093249. PMC 3965540.