KEY TO THE VARIETIES. 105 



dosed; (jiinit cells rrru .sniiill ( rost'iiil)liuf; those of Dejjlet Noor and 

 St'l.itny). tiiiHr iiiiiforiii in sizr and sliiiix-, all nmiulnl. si)lu'rical or short 

 elliptical, rimlii innrc than one ami one-half ihncx as lonn us n'idc, 



nifoiis (IV, 7) //( color ^ Khali Ilorraoiria (p. 82). 



Fruit not consiiiciioiisli/ narrointl until from about the niiilillc. hroatl at ajier, 

 shin nliere loose ochraccotis ( \', 7). seed 12-^ to "J.l iiini. Ions;, about two- 

 fifths as wide, rounded at apex, the ventral channel open or partly 

 closed : (jiant oils .i to ) tivics as lanji' as in llic iircccdin;/, e.rtrcinclii 

 dircrsc in size and shaix-. all amjlcd (uenci-ally sharply so), irr<'j;ularly 

 Iriaiiiiular or (luadran.icular or angular rod, clui>. or pear shaju'd, often 

 tliree to four tintis as lontj as aide, beticecn saffron (VI. 4) and orani/e 

 (VI, .3) //( color Khalt Mcnahhri/c (p. 93). 



Obion;, Intermediate Soft Itales. 



Fruit nearlii black alien riiie. very soft, not keeivini; its sli.-iiic well. 3.") to 40 

 nun. Ion.:.': (/iaiit cells inosll// ani/ular Tozer Zaid Safra i* (p. 8.")). 



Fruit not ilurlcr tinin elieslnut (IV. !>) or maroon (IV. 2) n'hen ripe, or, if 

 blaci:. the ijiaut cells all rounded, none arifnilur. 



Fruit blaek nln n rijie. very soft, not keci)iii.^' its sliajie well. 4<i to 4."> mm. 

 lonji : seed aliout thrce-tifths as lon.u as the fruit, almut one-third as wide 

 as lonj:, lietween mummy brown (III, 1(») and russet (III, Id) in color, 

 the ventral channel open or ])artly closed, the yerm jiore aiiove the mid- 

 dle; iiiant cells all rounded, sjiherical or short elliptical, not more than 

 one and one-half times as loii!; .-is wide, or.-mue ( \'I. ."! i colored. 



Tenaseen f. 



Fruit bron-n. baij [\\. ."»). or maroon {\\. 1' i alien ripe. 



Fruit eons/iicuoiisl!/ n-ider near the middle than elseirJiere and rapidlii diminish- 

 in;/ ill width from that point to the narroir base and ape.r; seed (jeiierally 

 taperini/ from in iir the ape.r to a ratlier sharp point Dcfilct Xoor.d 



Fruit oitlii moderatelji iriiler near Ihr middle than elseirlicre and (jradualUj 

 diminisliini/ from that point to the base and ape.r, or else of about the 

 same n-idfh Ihroin/liout almost its entire lenijlh : seed more or less rounded 

 and abriipllii tipped { mucronate) at ape.r. not taper pointed. 



Fruit when ripe liiiht hazel ( H'. 12) e-olored irithout anii tini/e of purple, the 

 sl<in whei'e loose saffron-yellow ( \'I. 4i. shiny. 47.."') to .">(( mm. lonj;, 

 somewhat blunt pointed at the apex, not kee/iin;/ its shape irell ; flesh about 

 .5 nnn. thick, rery soft and sirupij, with almost no white fibrous lining 

 to the central cavity; seed 23 to 2."> nnn. lonjr. a little more than one-third 

 as wide, russet (III. Ki) to chestnut (IV. 0) colored, the ventral channel 

 open, the i;erin \)ovv Ik'Iow the middle: i/iant cells (juite uniform in size, 

 mostlij rounded (siiherical, short elliptical, or pear-shaped), some <iuad- 

 rangular with rounded angles, none more than one and one-lialf times as 

 long as wide, orange rufous (IV, 13) to ferruginous (IV. KM in color. 



Dcf/lef /lamidutoo (j). 02). 



Fruit irlieii ripe darker colored, bail (IV, 5), maroon (IV, 2), or chestnut 

 (IV, 0), u-ith a purple tiiifje or, if hazel (IV, 12) colored and irifhout 

 purple tiiif/e, then of rather firni consistency, keepinii its shape irell irlieii 

 prescrrcd and irith the (jiant cells mostly annular (.l/c.s7(f//). 



o These four " Khalts " ( Mooashem. I>eglaowia. Ilorraowia. and Menakhry) 

 have the skin more or le.ss conspicuously transversely wrinkled as well as blis- 

 tered, and the flesh, although tender, of (luite firm consistency, characters be- 

 longing i-ather to the dry than the soft dates (see ]>. 0(t), and they a])pear to 

 be somewhat related to the Horra variety (see p. 08) ; but on account of their 

 thick sugary flesh and rich flavor, it seems proper to class them among the 

 soft dates. 



6 The fruit of this variety is usually considerably le.ss than twice as long as 

 wide ( see ]). 1(J(J). 



'^' This variety is connuon in tlie oasBS of eastern Algeria. A young iialm in 

 the garden at Tempe, Ariz., originally from Ourlana, Algeria, has much shorter, 

 obovate fruit and although labeled " Teii.aseen " it is certainly not identical 

 with the above-described fruit, which was obtained in the Oued Sonf. The latter 

 is in 'all probability the true Tenaseen. 



(2 This variety has the fruit generally decidedly larger near tlie base than near 

 the ai)ex and is therefore classed with the ovate intermediate soft dates. The 

 form described on this page is the exception, that en i)age 104 is the rule. 



92 



