Vegetative Traits of Some Date Palm Cultivars Grown in Sebha

By: Mohamed Benismail , Abobaker Erheim

Department of Horticulture - Faculty of Agriculture - University of Tripoli

Issue: Vol 20 |First Issue | 2014

article language: Arabic

Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to study the vegetative characters of eight date palm cultivars at the Agricultural Experiments Station in Sebha, namely: Asbeer, Adhwee, Awreeg, Tasfert, Taghyat, Talees, Saiedi, and Khadrai. The results indicated significant differences among the different cultivars. The trunks of the Awreeg and Adhwee cultivars were tall, while the trunks of the Saiedi cultivar were short; the rest of the cultivars were of medium length. Regarding trunk circumference, the Taghyat cultivar was of medium thickness (159.3 cm) compared to the other cultivars, whose thickness ranged between (187.25-233.50 cm). The lowest number of leaves per palm was recorded for the Khadrai and Saiedi cultivars, with an average of 65 leaves per palm, compared to the other cultivars, which were similar in leaf number with an average of 78 leaves per palm. The number of leaflets per single leaf ranged between 123.25 -- 187.25 leaflets per leaf. Some leaves were short, such as those of the Adhwee and Khadrai cultivars, while others were of medium length in the remaining cultivars. It was found that the leaflets were short and of medium width for the Saiedi, Khadrai, and Talees cultivars, while the leaflets of the other cultivars were short. The length of the spine region ranged from long for the Khadrai, Talees, and Adhwee cultivars to medium length for the rest of the cultivars. Concerning the number of spines per leaf, it ranged from medium for the Saiedi cultivar to numerous in the other cultivars.