Wild date palm

The evergreen Wild Date Palm only grows near water and in coastal grassland areas, so it comes as no surprise to find it in the north of Namibia, in and around waterways and oshanas. It is a slender (3-12m) erect or reclining, multi-stemmed palm with long feather-shaped, arching leaves (2-4m long). They are shiny green and have long spines at the base of the leaf stalk. Male and female flowers are on separate trees, the male flowers are in large, creamy white bunches. The fruits are small, up to 15mm long, oval and luminous orange, forming large bunches, which ripen brown from February-May.

The leaves are browsed by elephants and the small fruits taste like cultivated dates and attract insects, birds, animals and people. The sap is tapped to make beer and fruiting stems are used for brooms, the leaves for weaving. The wild date palm is also used in traditional medicine. It can be grown from seed or suckers and is drought resistant, but sensitive to severe frost.