100 
THE GARDEN OF THE WORLD 
Why do dates 
grow in the 
desert? 
at all. The old Arab saying means that the date 
palm must get all the moisture that it needs 
through its roots. If its leaves or stems are wet 
by rain, it does not do so well, and may even 
die. In a desert, such as the great Sahara, this 
condition is possible. The water is brought to 
an oasis by underground streams, not by rain. 
It so seldom rains in this desert that we can 
almost say never. While the date tree’s roots 
are absorbing this underground water, the great 
feathery crown of the tree is hot and dry under 
the sun. The hotter the sun the better the tree 
thrives and the bigger it grows. 
A single oasis may have many thousands of 
date trees growing there. There are some oases 
which have as many as half a million trees. A 
single bunch of dates from one of these trees 
may weigh from one hundred to five hundred 
pounds. Each of these date palms bears an 
enormous bunch of fruit every year, so it is not 
surprising that dates are the chief food of the 
desert dweller. He can live many days, and 
often has done so, on dates alone. 
