458 



DASYLIRION 



DATE 



give a strong impression of the desert, which contrasts 

 forcibly with civilized surroundings. The individual 

 flowers are not highly colored, but the spikes are 

 several feet long. Three plants sold as Dasylirions be- 

 long to Nolina, a closely related genus, which is chiefly 

 distinguished by fruit characters. In Dasylirion the 

 ovary has 3 ovules, and the fruit is dry and indehiscent, 

 or splits through the partitions and between the cells. 

 In Nolina the ovary has 2 ovules, and the fruit is dry, 

 often 3-winged, and bursts in an irregular fashion. The 

 latest monograph is in Latin by J. G. Baker in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. Vol. 18(1881). 



A. Stems 4-angled, square in section. 

 quadrangnlatum, S. Watson. Trunk 3 ft. high : Ivs. 

 drooping, dark green, 2 ft. or more long, 2-3 lines broad 

 at the base, soon narrower and quadrangular, the mar- 

 gin rough but not toothed. Mex. Discovered in 1878. 

 This is the only species with entire, not toothed, leaf- 

 margins. With Franceschi the trunk is so short as to 

 be almost globular ; the Ivs. are 4-6 ft. long, slightly 

 arching, and not splitting into fibers. 



AA Stems not 4-angled. 

 B. Tips of Ivs. not splitting into fibers. 

 glaucophyllum, Hook. (D, glaucum, Carr.). Recog- 

 nized by the above character and by the very glaucous, 

 bluish green Ivs., of which the inner ones are strict and 

 rigid, not gracefully drooping, the outer ones recurved, 

 2-3 ft. long, 8-9 lines wide above the base. Mex. B.M. 

 5041. R. H. 1872, p. 435. G.C. II. 13: 205. 



BB. Tips of Ivs. splitting into fibers. 



c. Trunk long, 2-5 ft. 

 D. Teeth on the leaf-margins yellowish. 

 Texanum, Scheele. Lvs. light green, 3-4 ft. long, 5-6 

 lines wide above the base ; margin serrulate, armed 

 with hooked teeth 1 line long and 3-6 lines apart; 

 flower-stalk 8-10 ft. high. Tex. and New Mex. 



DD. Teeth on the leaf-margins brown. 

 Wheeleri, S.Wats. Lvs. very similar to those of D. 

 Texanum, 7-9 lines wide. The Ivs. are shorter than in 

 D. glaiicophyllum, and they usually have a spiral twist, 

 which gives the plant a remarkable appearance. Ariz 

 and N. Mex. 



cc. Trunk short. 

 D. Racemes short, densely fid. 



E. Length of Ivs. 3-4 ft. 



graminifdlium, Zucc. Trunk very short : rosette of 

 Ivs. 4-5 ft. across : Ivs. 3-7 lines wide above the base, 

 tipped with 6-8 spreading fibers. Mex. Int. into cult, 

 about 1835. This name and D. serratifolium were given 

 by Zuccarini without description, and are greatly con- 

 fused in botanical literature and perhaps also in gardens. 



EE. Length of Ivs. 2-3 ft. 



acrdtrichum, Zucc. (D. grdcile, Zucc.). Trunk in gar- 

 dens unbranched, finally 4-5 ft. high : Ivs. 6-8 lines wide, 

 pale green, hardly glaucous, splitting at the tip into 

 20-30 fibers, the outer Ivs. recurved. Mex. B.M. 5030. 

 F. 8.14:1448. G.C. III. 19: 204. 



DD. Racemes long, loosely fid. 



serratifolium, Zucc. Lvs. exactly as in D. acrotrichum, 

 7-8 lines wide above the base. Mex. Can be distin- 

 guished only in flower. -yy -^ 



DATE. A palm, Phwnix dactylifera, Linn., native 

 to N. Africa and Arabia, and extensively planted in 

 countries under Arabic control. It is also grown to some 

 extent in southern Asia and southern Europe and in 

 other tropical and subtropical countries. The pulpy 

 fruits constitute one of the most important articles of 

 food of the Arabs ; and the leaves and other parts of the 

 plant afford materials for dwellings and many domestic 

 uses. Nearly all parts of the plant are utilized in some 

 way. The Date palm reaches a height of 100 ft., mak- 

 ing a straight, shaggy trunk, and it continues to bear 

 for one or two centuries. It is dioacious. See Phoenix. 



The Date palm has been grown in parts of the United 

 States and adjacent Mexico for many years. In Florida, 

 California, and restricted areas of a few other states, 



it has been grown for decorative purposes for more than 

 a century. At the missions founded by the Spaniards 

 at St. Augustine, and other places in Florida, and that 

 long line of missions extending from far iato Mexico, 

 northward and westward through southern New Mexico, 

 Arizona and California, it is probable that the Date was 

 planted wherever the climatic conditions \vere favor- 

 able. Within the borders of the United States the 

 greater number of these early plantings were in Florida 

 or along the coast of southern California, regions where 

 the sum total of summer heat is not siifftcientto perfectly 

 develop the Date fruit. The Date, as a fruit producer, 

 being indigenous to a desert environment, does not take 

 kindly to humid regions, even where it is not sufficiently 

 cold to prohibit the growth of the tree. For this reason 

 the greater number of the early plantings in this country 

 matured little fruit, while that produced was of poor 

 quality, although in many instances the trees grew luxu- 

 riantly and to large size. In the more arid portions of 

 Lower California and Sonora, where there is sufficient 

 water for irrigation, the early plantings have been con- 

 tinued down to the present time, and Dates of fair 

 quality have been grown for many years. Moreover, 

 each year the area devoted to Dates is increasing. Not 

 only have sufficient Dates been grown in Sonora to sup- 

 ply the local markets and the markets of the larger 

 cities, Hermosillo, Guaymas and Altar, but during the 

 past year a surplus has been shipped from the state. 



The part of the United States suitable for growing 

 the Date tree, for the profitable production of fruit, is 

 confined to rather narrow limits; viz., the irrigable por- 

 tion of southern Arizona below an altitude of 2,500 feet 

 and the somewhat similar area of southern California 

 east of the coast ranges of mountains, where the. sum- 

 mer temperature is not lowered by proximity to the sea. 

 As a tree, however, it will make excellent growth over 

 a much larger area, including the semi- arid regions of 

 central and southern California. Over the larger area 

 it will occasionally bloom and the earlier varieties ma- 

 ture fruit, but the summer heat will rarely be sufficient 

 to bring it to a high degree of perfection. In recent 

 years Dates have matured in favorable localities in 

 California, in both the San Joaquin and Sacramento 

 valleys, but it is only east of the mountains in the irri- 

 gable regions of the Mojave desert that there is suffi- 

 cient summer heat to mature an annual crop. In the 

 strictly desert regions of southern Arizona and south- 

 eastern California the planting of seedling Dates is 

 rapidly increasing, and the time is not far distant when 

 in this region not a little attention will be given to the 

 production of this fruit. Among the older trees may be 

 mentioned those on a ranch owned by Hall Hanlon, 

 situated on the California side of the Colorado river a 

 few miles below Yuma. In 1875 Mr. Hanlon received a 

 box of Dates from La Paz, Lower California, which were 

 grown at that place, and planted the seed the same year. 

 From these seeds 12 pistillate and several staminate 

 trees were raised, the trees beginning to bloom at the 

 age of 5 years. All the pistillate trees have fruited 

 abundantly each year since 7 years of age, and now vary 

 in height from 20 to 50 feet, each tree producing yearly 

 from 6 to 17 bunches of fruit, the bunches varying in 

 weight from 20 to 38 pounds. 



In resent years many seedling palms have come into 

 bearing in southern Arizona, particularly in Salt river 

 valley. On the Bartlett, Adams & Go's, ranch at Glen- 

 dale, several seedling Dates were in bearing in the 

 fall of 1898, at which time one tree, 8 years from seed, 

 bore an estimated crop of more than 400 pounds. On 

 a ranch owned by E. L. Arthur, in the vicinity of 

 Tempe, a dozen or more palms were in bearing the same 

 year, several of which bore one or more bunches of fruit 

 the fourth year after planting. In addition to those 

 cited above, many seedling palms bore during the fall 

 of 1898 at Phoenix, Tempe, Glendale, Mesa, Arizola, 

 Florence, Yuma, Tucson, and other points in southern 

 Arizona, and a number of localities in California. 



An impetus was given to Date culture in this country by 

 the importation by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 in the spring of 1891 and 1892, of 74 rooted suckers, 68 of 

 which were supposed to have been taken from female 

 trees of approved varieties, while the remaining six were 

 labeled male. These tre<?s were distributed to various 



