Doum palm

Appearance

The doum palm is a dioecious palm and grows up to 17 m high. The trunk, which can have a girth of up to 90 cm , branches dichotomously and has tufts of large leaves at the ends of the branches. The bark is fairly smooth, dark grey and bears the scars of fallen leaves. The petioles are about a metre long, sheathing the branch at the base and armed with stout upward-curving claws. The leaves are fan shaped and measure about 120 by 180 cm . Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The inflorescences are similar in general appearance, up to about 1.2 m long, branching irregularly and with two or three spikes arising from each branchlet. Female trees produce large woody fruits, each containing a single seed, that remain on the tree for a long period.

Distribution

The doum palm is native to the northern half of Africa. It is widespread in the Sahel and grows from Mauritania and Senegal in the west, through Central Africa, and east to Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania. It tends to grow in areas where groundwater is present and is found along the Nile River in Egypt and Sudan, in riverine areas of northwestern Kenya, and along the Niger River in West Africa. It is also native to the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula and is reportedly naturalized in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. It grows in wadis and at oases, but sometimes occurs away from water and on rocky hillsides. It dislikes waterlogged soils and is very resistant to destruction by bushfires.

Habitat

The doum palm is native to the northern half of Africa. It is widespread in the Sahel and grows from Mauritania and Senegal in the west, through Central Africa, and east to Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania. It tends to grow in areas where groundwater is present and is found along the Nile River in Egypt and Sudan, in riverine areas of northwestern Kenya, and along the Niger River in West Africa. It is also native to the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula and is reportedly naturalized in the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. It grows in wadis and at oases, but sometimes occurs away from water and on rocky hillsides. It dislikes waterlogged soils and is very resistant to destruction by bushfires.

Food

The doum palm fruit-dates are also known in Eritrea as Akat, or Akaat in the Tigre language. The thin dried brown rind is made into molasses, cakes, and sweetmeats. The unripe kernels are edible. The shoots of the germinated seeds are also eaten as a vegetable. In Egypt, the fruit is sold in herbalist shops, and is popular among children, gnawing its sweet yet sour hard fibrous flesh beneath the shiny hard crust. In Diu, Una and Saurashtra region of Gujarat , the tree is known as ''Hoka Tree'' and the red ripe edible fruit is known as ''Hoka''. In northern part of Nigeria, among the Hausa people, it's known as "Goruba". Apart from the use of the fruit as food, juice is extracted from the young fruit and palm wine is prepared from the sap.

Uses

The doum palm flourishes in hot dry regions where little else grows and the tree is appreciated for the shade it provides. All parts of the tree are useful, but probably the most important product is the leaves. The fibre and leaflets are used by people along the Niger and Nile Rivers to weave baskets, such as in the material culture of the Manasir. Other things made from the leaves are mats, coarse textiles, brooms, ropes, string and thatch. The timber is used for posts and poles, furniture manufacture and beehives, and the tree provides wood for fuel. The leaf stalks are used for fencing and the fibre is used for textiles. Other products include fishing rafts, brooms, hammocks, carpets, buttons and beads.