Cretan Date Palm

Cretan Date Palm Phoenix theophrastii
Cretan Date Palm at the beach in Vai, Crete
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Coryphoideae
Tribe:	Phoeniceae
Genus:	Phoenix
Species:	P. theophrasti
Binomial name
Phoenix theophrasti Greuter

Phoenix theophrastii, the Cretan Date Palm, is a small palm native to the eastern Mediterranean, with a very restricted distribution, confined in southern Greece to a few sites on Crete, and other islands.

Phoenix theophrastii grows up to 15 m tall, usually with several slender stems. The leaves are pinnate, 2-3 m long, with numerous rigid greyish-green linear leaflets 15-50 cm long on each side of the central rachis. The fruit is an oval yellowish-brown drupe 1.5 cm long and 1 cm diameter and containing a single large seed; the fruit pulp is too thin and fibrous to be of agricultural significance and has an acrid taste though the fruits are sometimes eaten by the locals.

Sites on Crete include Vai in the Lasithi Prefecture, Ayios Nikitas in Heraklion Prefecture, and Preveli gorge and Souda near Plakias, both on the south coasts of Crete in Rethymnon Prefecture. Trees are also found on Amorgos island, and the south coast of Anafi island. Recently, around 10 trees, the only natural stand on the mainland, were found in an ancient palm forest in the Epidaurus area in Peloponnese. It has been proposed that, in Ancient Greece, there were many more, growing from Crete to Thebes, and from the Peloponnese to Delos. There are also some small stands in southwest Turkey, especially on the Datça and Bodrum Peninsulas in Muğla Province. Areas forested with Phoenix theophrasti constitute Europe's only palm forests.

References and external links

• Johnson (1998). Phoenix theophrasti. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
• Davis, P. H., ed. (1965-1985). Flora of Turkey. Edinburgh.
• ARKive: Phoenix theophrasti