''Phoenix sylvestris'' (''sylvestris'' - Latin, of the forest) also known as silver date palm, Indian date, sugar date palm or wild date palm, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

in the palm family native to southern Pakistan, most of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is also reportedly naturalized in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, the

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives arc ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and the Leeward Islands. Growing in plains and scrubland up to 1300 m above sea level, the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly. The sap is tapped and drunk fresh or fermented into toddy. The fresh sap is boiled to make palm

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

state of India and Bangladesh.

Description

''Phoenix sylvestris'' ranges from 4 to 15 m in height and 40 cm in diameter; not as large as the Canary Island Date Palm, but nearly so, and resembling it. The leaves are 3 m long, gently recurved, on 1 m petioles with acanthophylls near the base. The leaf crown grows to 10 m wide and 7.5 to 10 m tall containing up to 100 leaves. The inflorescence grows to 1 metre with white, unisexual flowers forming to a large, pendent infructescence. The single-seeded fruit ripens to a purple-red colour.Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. (Pages 405-406) /

Gallery

File:SylvesterPalmFlorida.jpg, Growing in Englewood Florida Image:Wild Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris) female flowers at Narendrapur W IMG 4056.jpg, Female flowers at Narendrapur near

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India Image:Wild Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris) male flowers at Narendrapur W IMG 4059.jpg, Male flowers at Narendrapur near

, India File:MaturePhoenixSylvestris.jpg, Mature specimens, Ft Myers, Florida Image:Wild Data Palm-Yucatán-fruits-spines.jpg, Fruits and spines in the Yucatán, Mexico File:PhoenixsylvestrisGeorgia.jpg, Growing on Saint Simons Island in Georgia USA Image:Wild Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris)- lower trunk at Purbasthali W IMG 1660.jpg, Lower trunk at

Purbasthali Purbasthali is a village with a police station and a rail station in Purbasthali II CD block in Kalna subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district. It is located 120 km north from Kolkata. Also known as Chupi Char, it lies on the banks of ...

in Bardhaman District of

, India File:Ichalu with fruits.jpg, Fruits in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

, India File:Palm sugar - പനഞ്ചക്കര.jpeg, Palm sugar from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

(India) – traditional

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...

File:Phoenix sylvestris (fruit).jpg, Fruits in Sri Lanka

References

External links

PACSOA Link
*http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Phoenix_sylvestris {{Taxonbar, from=Q2285767 sylvestris Trees of the Indian subcontinent Trees of Myanmar Plants described in 1832