Other names: none
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit, kernels, flowers, sap, pollen
How: fruit raw, dried, cooked; flowers raw; sap straight, fermented, or evaporated to syrup or sugar
When: fall
Where: landscaping
Nutritional Value: calories
Dangers:
On this page: Identification · Range & Ecosystem · Uses · Dangers · Harvest Time · Possible Mimics
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| Canary Island date palm. |
Identification
Identification Features
- Leaf Arrangement: Note the alternating pattern.
- Leaf Shape: Canary Island date palm needle-type leaf. The leaves are long like those of the Queen palm rather than fan-shaped.
- Leaf Venation:
- Leaf Margin:
- Leaf Color:
- Flower Structure:
- Flower Color:
- Fruit: Fall is when the fruit appear on clusters of long strands. They are yellow-orange oval, 3/4" long, flesh is sweet but very thin over a large seed making it undesirable as a snacking date.
- Seed:
- Stem:
- Hairs:
- Height: These palms usually remain short and squat for ten years or more before growing taller to their final height of thirty to sixty feet.
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| Canary Island date palm base. |
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| Canary Island date palm trunk. |
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| Trunk with almost-mature fruit. |
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| Canary Island date palm crown. |
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| Canary Island date palm needle-type leaf. Note the alternating pattern. |
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| Almost ripe fruit. |
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Range & Ecosystem
Range
Ecosystem
landscaping
Uses
Food
What: fruit, kernels, flowers, sap, pollen
How: fruit raw, dried, cooked; flowers raw; sap straight, fermented, or evaporated to syrup or sugar
Nutritional Value: calories
The preferred utilization of these dates is conversion to jelly...or wine! Woohoo!
A good palm oil can be pressed from its seeds using a nut press. The kernels themselves are high in protein. Remove the kernel's outer skin/husk, grind into small pieces (not powder), then roast a bit at 350F for 5-10 minutes to improve the digestibility of the protein as well as giving it a sweeter flavor. Boil the pieces as a porridge to eat. I'm going to try using them as a substitute for cornmeal in cornbread and will report back with my results.
Medicine
Harvesting Tips
The sap is very sweet and can be drunk as is, fermented into palm wine, or evaporated down to palm syrup or sugar. Traditionally it is collected by carefully carving a bowl-shaped depression in the tree's crown in the late afternoon or evening. The sap collects in this depression overnight and is gathered in the morning. If left exposed to sun and air it will quickly spoil. Please note, carving out the crown of the tree in this manner will likely result in the palm dying. There has been some luck/non-tree death with cutting the young fruit stalks (inflorescence spadix) in early summer and collecting the sap from them.
Dangers
Harvest Time
When: fall
Possible Mimics
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