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Phoenix sylvestris

Common name:	Wild Date Plum	Family:	Palmae
Author:	(L.)Roxb.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	W. Asia - India
Habitat:	Not known
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Elate sylvestris[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Wild Date Palm [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sylvestris = of woods sylvestris = of woods
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Arecales. Renamed to Arecaceae -- Palm family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	India(Santal)

Physical Characteristics

Tree growing to 15m. It is hardy to zone 9. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Edible Uses

Fruit. Of a very inferior character[2].
Sap - it can be concentrated into a syrup or fermented into alcohol[2]. One of the main sources of sugar in Bengal[2]. The sap is obtained from the unopened inflorescence[171]. The tip of this is cut off and the sap then flows from this cut. The flow can be up to 5 litres a day for several months, it contains about 14% sugar[171]. See also [1].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires an open sunny position[231].
One of the most frost-hardy members of the genus.
200555

Propagation

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[231] McMillan-Browse. P. Palms for Cooler Climates. Trebah Enterprises. 1993 ISBN 0 9521952 0 8
An excellent little booklet on the subject, though it does not mention many plant uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Phoenix+sylvestris
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Phoenix+sylvestris

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.