CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME DATE PALM VARIETIES (PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L.) GROWN IN THE VALLEY OF HADHRAMOUT, YEMEN

Abstract

This study was conducted on three varieties of date palms (Barhi, Jazaz, Magraf, Maktoumi and Soctori) grown in some farms in the valley of Hadhramaut, during the period from October 2020 to December 2023, with the aim of characterizing and finding apparent characteristics of the leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of five varieties of date palms. A botanical key was created to facilitate the differentiation between the studied varieties. Many of the studied characteristics showed their importance in distinguishing between the studied date palm varieties, the most important of which were the shape and color of the funnel, the length of the fruit, the wide or narrow shaped kernel, and the length of the seed.