KEY TO THE VARIETIES. 105 



closed; giant cells very small (resembling those of Deglet Noor and 

 Selathy), quite uniform in size and shape, all rounded, spherical or short 

 elliptical, rarely more than one and one-half times as long as wide, 



rufous (IV, 7) in color Khali Horraowia (p. 82). 



Fruit not conspicuously narrowed until from about the middle, broad at apex, 

 skin where loose ochraceous (V, 7), seed 24 to 25 mm. long, about two- 

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

 closed ; giant cells 3 to 4 times as large as in the preceding, extremely 

 diverse in size and shape, all angled (generally sharply so), irregularly 

 triangular or quadrangular or angular rod, club, or pear shaped, often 

 three to four times as long as wide, between saffron (VI, 4) and orange 

 (VI, 3) in color Khalt Menakhrya (p. 93). 



Oblong Intermediate Soft Dates. 



Fruit nearly black when ripe, very soft, not 'keeping its shape well, 35 to 40 

 mm. long; giant cells mostly angular Toser Zaid Safra* (p. 85). 



Fruit not darker than chestnut (IV, 9) or maroon (IV, 2) when ripe, or, if 

 black, the giant cells all rounded, none angular. 



Fruit black when ripe, very soft, not keeping its shape well, 40 to 45 mm. 

 long ; seed about three-fifths as long as the fruit, about one-third as wide 

 as long, between mummy brown (III, 10) and russet (III, 16) in color, 

 the ventral channel open or partly closed, the germ pore above the mid- 

 dle ; giant cells all rounded, spherical or short elliptical, not more than 

 one and one-half times as long as wide, orange (VI, 3) colored. 



Tenaseen c. 



Fruit brown, bay (IV, 5), or maroon (IV, 2) when ripe. 



Fruit conspicuously wider near the middle than elsewhere and rapidly diminish- 

 ing in width from that point to the narrow base and apex; seed generally 

 tapering from near the apex to a rather sharp point Deglet Noor.d 



Fruit only moderately wider near the middle than elsewhere and gradually 

 diminishing from that point to the base and apex, or else of about the 

 same width throughout almost its entire length; seed more or less rounded 

 and abruptly tipped (mucronate) at apex, not taper pointed. 



Fruit ivhen ripe light hazel (IV, 12) colored without any tinge of purple, the 

 skin where loose saffron-yellow (VI, 4), shiny. 47.5 to 50 mm. long, 

 somewhat blunt pointed at the apex, not keeping its shape well; flesh about 

 5 mm. thick, very soft and sirupy, with almost no white fibrous lining 

 to the central cavity ; seed 23 to 25 mm. long, a little more than one-third 

 as wide, russet (III, 16) to chestnut (IV, 9) colored, the ventral channel 

 open, the germ pore below the middle ; giant cells quite uniform in size, 

 mostly rounded (spherical, short elliptical, or pear-shaped), some quad- 

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

 long as wide, orange rufous (IV, 13) to ferruginous (IV, 10) in color. 



Deglet Hamidatoo (p. 92). 



Fruit when ripe darker colored, bay (IV, 5), maroon (IV, 2), or chestnut 

 (IV, 9), with a purple tinge or, if hazel (IV, 12) colored and without 

 purple tinge, then of rather firm consistency, keeping its shape well when 

 preserved and with the giant cells mostly angular (Areshty). 



a These four " Khalts " (Mooashem, Deglaowia, Horraowia, and Menakhry) 

 have the skin more or less conspicuously transversely wrinkled as well as blis- 

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

 longing rather to the dry than the soft dates (see p. 96), and they appear to 

 be somewhat related to the Horra variety (see p. 98) ; but on account of their 

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

 soft dates. 



& The fruit of this variety is usually considerably less than twice as long as 

 wide (see p. 100). 



c This variety is common in the oases of eastern Algeria. A young palm in 

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

 obovate fruit and although labeled " Tenaseen " it is certainly not identical 

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

 is in all probability the true Tenaseen. 



<* This variety has the fruit generally decidedly larger near the base than near 

 the apex and is therefore classed with the ovate intermediate soft dates. The 

 form described on this page is the exception, that oh page 104 is the rule. 

 92 



