Close-ups of Maltese nature (31)

The tall date palm (palma tat-Tamar) is known in the scientific world as phoenix dactylifera. It is actually native of the Saharan and the Arabic regions and is commonly cultivated in Malta for ornamental purposes. Of interest is the fact that, on our islands, this palm tree also manages to proliferate from the seeds discarded by people eating the imported dried fruit (dates).

The towering date palm, with its erect stem, is capable of growing to an impressive height of six to 20 metres. The characteristic fan-like grey-green fronds extend up to several meters and sport around 150 leaflets. The date palm is dioecious, having the male and female flowers on separate trees. These flowers are produced in clusters, which in the early stages of their development are enveloped in a hard encasing helping to protect them from the intense heat of the sun. This casing splits open when the flowers mature, exposing the whole inflorescence. Once the female flower is fertilised, it produces a fruit known as a date. In Malta, possibly because of climatic reasons, these fruits rarely mature sufficiently to be edible.

However, the orange-brown sweet and sticky dates grown abroad are edible. These are sometimes stuffed with marzipan, cream cheese, nuts or candied peel, making an appetising sweet. They are also the main ingredient for the traditional imqaret.

The date palm has been declared a protected tree under national legislation and one should not prune, fell or uproot this tree without previously obtaining the necessary permits from the competent authorities.

More information may be ob­tained by e-mail: nature.requests@mepa.org.mt.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity.

Malta, together with many other countries around the globe, is carrying out a number of initiatives to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives. We are all invited to take action to safeguard the variety of life on earth: Biodiversity.