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The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. Due to its long history of cultivation for fruit, its exact native distribution is unknown, but probably originated somewhere in northern Africa, and perhaps also southwest Asia. 15-25 m tall, often clumped with several trunks from a single root system, but also often growing singly. The leaves are 3-5 m long, with spines on the petiole and about 150 leaflets; the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm broad. The full span of the crown ranges from 6-10 m.

Dates have been a staple food of the Middel East for thousands of years. It is believed to have originated around the Persian Gulf, and has been cultivated in ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as early as 6000 BC. There is archaeological evidence of cultivation in eastern Arabia in 4,000 BC. In later times, Arabs spread dates around northern Africa and into Spain.