FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

 Phoenix dactylifera. Linn. Common Date Palm. 



Linn. Syxt. Dicecia Triandria. 



The berry, used as a confection, conserved in its own sugar. 

 Vernacular. Kurmah, Chuhara, Hind. Temr, Nukhel, Rutul (the 

 fruit), Usteh-khurma (the stone), Arab. Khurma, Pers. 



Habitat. The Levant. 



Remarks. The Thamar of the Bible, which gave its name to Tha- 

 mar or Tadm,or, until it was changed to Palmyra after the conquests 

 of Alexander ; and wherever the palm is mentioned in the Bible, the date 

 tree is meant. The dates of Palestine were famous in ancient times, 

 especially those of Jericho, which is spoken of (Dent. xxx. 3) as " the city 

 of palm trees." The Greeks called the tree faivig from Phoenicia, whence 

 the best dates as already stated were brought, distinguishing the female 

 as 17 <><u'i/t 8d\avr](papos, and the male as 6 <ow epoTjv. The male flowers 

 they called e\drr) (the name also of a Pine) and <nrd6rj, and the fruit 

 (froiviKoftaXavos ; although from Pliny's description of the Phrenico-balanus, 

 or palm acorn, it is not clear whether he means the Date, or the fruit of 

 Hyphoene thebaica, or even of Elceis guineensis, W. or Guinea Oily Pa/m, 

 which is found in Upper Egypt. Homer in his hymns celebrates the 

 sacred palm of Delos, which sprung from the ground on the birth of 

 Apollo, and again refers to it in the Odyssey at the conclusion of the 

 address of Ulysses to Nausicaa. 



" Never, I never viewed till this bless'd hour 

 Such finished grace ! I gaze and I adore ! 

 Thus seems the palm with stately honours crown'd 

 By Phoebus altars; thus o'erlooks the ground, 

 The pride of Delos. By the Delian coast 

 I voyag'd, leader of a warrior host. 

 Raptur'd I stood, and at this hour amaz'd, 

 With rev'rence at the lofty wonder gaz'd 

 Raptur'd I stand ! for earth ne'er knew to bear 

 A plant so stately, or a nymph so fair." 



Solomon it will be remembered in the Song of Songs compares his spouse to 

 a palm (i. e. date) tree ; and Madame de Stael remarks that " the com- 

 pliment would be very, agreeable to a beautiful woman ;" as the two 

 wisest men of antiquity would seem to have been aware. Calmet considers 

 the comparison very just because the palm tree with some of its branches 

 hanging down like arms and some stuck up like the head, and its long 

 trunk, resembles the human figure, as represented by the Egyptian 

 sculptors. The Reverend Father appears to accept the comparison too 

 literally, unless he implies that statuesque is meant. The meaning here, 

 however, as in Homer, is obviously "full of dignity and grace" as the 

 palm, " the prince of vegetation" of Linnaeus, in the form of which there 

 lies an inexpressible elegance and grandeur, fresh in its impression on the 

 mind after years of familiarity as when first seen. The ancients carried 

 the Palm-branch before their conquerors, the kings of Svria received 

 a golden Palm-branch in tribute, and the Jews laid them on the altar 

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