Phoenix theophrasti

Phoenix theophrasti, the Cretan date palm, is a palm native to the eastern Mediterranean, with a very restricted distribution, confined to southern Greece, a few sites on Crete and nearby islands, as well as some places on the Turkish coast. In Europe, with Chamaerops humilis (European fan palm) are the unique native palm trees in continental Europe. In Turkey, it is the only native palm species; all the others—although much more common—were introduced. The specific epithet theophrasti was chosen by the Swiss botanist Werner Greuter in 1967 for the fact that Theophrastus, the ancient Greek "father of botany", had described several types of palms, including one from Crete. A genomic study from New York University Abu Dhabi Center for Genomics and Systems Biology showed that domesticated date palm varieties from North Africa, including well-known varieties such as Medjool and Deglet Noor, are a hybrid between Middle East date palms and P. theophrasti.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.