Arecaceae
Phoenix

Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb.

First published in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 787 (1832)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Indian Subcontinent to W. Myanmar. It is a tree and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

General Description
Solitary tree palm. Stem to 10 - 15 (20) m tall, without leaf sheaths c. 20 - 30 cm diam., with persistent, diamond-shaped leaf bases; stem base with mass of roots. Crown hemispherical, with more than 50 leaves. Leaves c. 1.5 x 4 m long; leaf sheath reddish-brown, fibrous; pseudopetiole 40 - 50 cm long x 3 - 5 cm wide at base; acanthophylls closely inserted, arranged in several planes, c. 13 - 18 on each side of rachis, conduplicate, yellow-green, very sharp, 4 - 14 cm long; leaflets irregularly fascicled, arranged in several planes, c. 80 - 90 on each side of rachis, concolorous, greyish-green, often waxy, very sharp, 18 - 35 x 1.2 - 2.4 cm. Staminate inflorescences to 25 per plant, erect, not extending far beyond prophyll; prophyll coriaceous, bright orange internally when young, splitting first adaxially (side adjacent to trunk), 25 - 40 x 6 - 15 cm; peduncle 20 - 30 x 1.2 - 2.2 cm; rachis 13 - 18 cm long with numerous, congestedly arranged rachillae, each 4 - 16 cm long. Staminate flowers white-yellow, musty-scented; calyx a deep cupule to 2 - 2.5 mm high with 3 poorly defined lobes; petals 3 (rarely 4), apices obtuse, slightly hooded, 6 - 10 x c. 3 mm; anthers 3 - 4 mm long. Pistillate inflorescences erect, arching on fruit maturation; peduncle green and upright, becoming golden-orange and arching on fruit maturation, to c. 90 x 2 cm; prophyll papery, short, splitting twice between margins, c. 24 x 5 cm; rachillae arranged in irregular horizontal whorls, c. 50 - 60 in number, yellow-green in colour, c. 8 - 34 cm long. Pistillate flowers creamy-white, c. 40 - 50 mostly restricted to distal half of rachilla; calyx cupule 1.5 - 2.5 mm high; petals 3 - 4 x 4 - 5 mm. Fruit obovoid, 15 - 25 x 12 mm, ripening from green to orange-yellow, with mesocarp moderately fleshy and astringent. Seed obovoid with rounded apices, 15 - 20 x 7 - 10 mm; embryo lateral opposite raphe; endosperm homogeneous.
Vernacular
INDIA. Ita chettu (Telinga), [Beccari (1890)]; khurjjuri, kharjura, madhukshir (Sanscrit), khujjoor, kajar, kejur (Bengali), khaji, sendhu, kejur, khajur, khaji, salma, thalma, thakil (Hindi), ichal, kullu, ichalu mara (Kanara), khejuri (Uriya), itchumpannay, periaitcham, itcham-nar, itham pannay (Tamil), ita, pedda-ita, itanara, ishan-chedi (Telinga), [Blatter (1926)]; eechamaram, periya eecham (Tamil), [Matthew (1983)]; kubong, rotong (Lepchas), [Noltie (1994)]. PAKISTAN. Khaji, khajoor, [Malik (1984)]; taree- khajoor, [Aitchison (1869)].
Distribution
Phoenix sylvestris is common, wild or cultivated, in the plains of India and Pakistan.
Conservation
Not threatened.
Biology
Phoenix sylvestris thrives from the plains to the coast in low-lying wastelands, scrub forest and areas that have been disturbed or are prone to periodic or seasonal inundation with water, causing water-logging. In its native habitat P. sylvestris flowers at the beginning of the hot season from January to April, and fruits ripen from October to December.
[PW]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
In parts of India, particularly West Bengal, sweet sap is tapped from the stem of P. sylvestris and drunk fresh or processed into a dark sugar (gur or jaggery) or alcoholic toddy (Davis 1972). The astringent fruits are rarely eaten fresh but are processed as jellies and jams. Blatter (1926) noted the fruits to comprise one constituent of a natural restorative, and the seeds when ground up with the root of Achyranthes aspera L. (Amaranthaceae) and chewed with betel leaves (Areca catechu L., Palmae) are considered a remedy for 'ague'.
[PW]

Common Names

English
Silver Date Palm, Sugar Date Palm

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0