The Judean Date Palm

[rubyz]

Greetings!
I am new to this forum, and pleased to join you all.
I wish to bring you interesting news concerning a variety of phoenix dactyliferawhich became extinct about 1,500 years ago: it has actually been resurrected - and from a seed which lay dormant for 1,934 years!
The Judean Date Palm you can see in my avatar (if I've set it up correctly), is the species in question, and is now two years old and thriving. I have submitted an article on this palm for publication in Chamaerops, the journal of the European Palm Society of which I am also a member. Since this article has not yet been published, I shall ask permission to submit a similar article in Palms.
So, here is a brief summary of this fantastic botanic achievement:
Prior to 73 A.D., the Judean Date Palm was abundant in ancient Israel (Judea) and was cultivated in forests(!) stretching from the central Galilee to the northern portion of the Negev desert. In 73 A.D.,, the Roman occupiers finally put down the Judean rebellion by taking the last rebel stronhold, the Massada fortress, which was well stocked with water and foodstuffs, among which were Judean dates.
In the 1970's, an archeological dig there uncovered, among other things, hundreds of discarded date pits which were positively identified by Israeli botanists and stored as archeological artifacts. Some thirty years later, Dr. Sarah Sallon, a researcher from the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, heard about the seeds, and asked permission to attempt to germinate a few. The staff of the Archeological Botany department of Bar-Ilan University thought she was totally cuckoo, but handed over three seeds.
Dr. Sallon brought the seeds to Dr. Elaine Solowey, an expert in the cultivation of rare and extinct plants (as well as an experienced cultivator of p. dactylifera), and asked her to try to germinate the ancient seeds. Dr. Holowey, who also believed that Dr. Sallon had gone quite mad, was eventually persuaded, and employed state of the art horticulural procedures to get the seeds to grow. As a result, she actually succeeded in coaxing one of the three seeds to sprout.
I was fortunate enough to converse with Dr. Holowey in a lengthy cellphone interview, exchange e-mails with her and even receive some relevant photos.
Naturally, I have left out many interesting details from this post for reasons of space and time, but I would be happy to respond to your e-mail enquiries, should you have any.
The revival of a long extinct palm variety, the Judean Date Palm, from a nearly 2,000 year old seed, is truly a stunning achievement in modern science.

[Dave-Vero]

Welcome!

The seedling received news coverage, but I hadn't seen an update or news of a publication in a scientific journal.  

I assume a few more ancient dates might be made available for germination.  

Here's a reference from before the germination:

The Botanical Remains from Masada: Identification of the Plant Species and the Possible Origin of the Remnants

N. Liphschitz, S. Lev-Yadun

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 274 (May, 1989), pp. 27-32

[Gileno Machado]

Hi rubyz.

Welcome to this board.

This topic was actually discussed here (I guess last year), in the old forum. It amazing how this germination could be achieved. I know Phoenix dactilifera produce incredibly resistant seeds. My cousin brought us some candy dates from Israel 2 years ago and the seeds actually sprouted !! I've imagined that since the dates had been cooked and processed, it would be impossible to germinate the seeds...

Thanks for your information and give us more details about this germination process, if possible.

[rubyz]

Regarding the germination process:

Dr. Holowey first soaked the seeds in warm water, which is standard for many amateur seed growers;

she then applied gibberellic acid, a growth hormone used by botanists to stimulate germination; next, she added T8, which is a hormone which encourages rooting; she then applied a fertilizer, derived from seaweed, containing enzymes to substitute for the natural nutritional content of the seed (since she was certain the seed's own food supply had long since degenerated); finally, she potted the seed in sterile soil and hooked up the pot to the existing drip irrigation system (typically employed in Israel on farms, experimental fields and even private gardens).

The plant was kept, until recently,  in protective isolation so as not to be endangered by either insects or disease.

I have a rather small but interesting (and very recent) photo of Dr. Holowey standing beside the palm, which I'd be glad to forward to anyone wishing to receive it.

[rubyz]

(Dave-Vero @ Feb. 24 2007,11:02)

QUOTE

I assume a few more ancient dates might be made available for germination.  

Till now, a total of 10 seeds have been treated, but only one has succeeded. Since the seeds are considered to be archeological items in their own right, there is a problem convincing the Powers That Be to hand over their treasure to another institution.

It is very likely that once Metushelah (Methusalah in English) flowers, or, more hopefully, fruits, pressure will be exerted upon the seed guardians to be less stingy.

Another angle: Israel is a world leader in tissue culture propagation, and two institutes here are already supplying farms with excellent seedlings of p. dactylifera. I have e-mailed Dr. Holowey with an inquiry as to whether it would be possible to propagate the Judean variety in this manner, and am awaiting her reply.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Welcome to the forum!

I would love a copy of that picture emailed to me!  

Piouspalms@aol.com

Thank you very much!  I am eager to read the article!

[rubyz]

(PiousPalms @ Feb. 24 2007,12:14)

QUOTE

Welcome to the forum!

I would love a copy of that picture emailed to me!  

Thank you very much!  I am anxious to read the article!

Hi William

Thanks!

The picture's on its way.

I have no idea when the article will be published.

[chris.oz]

(rubyz @ Feb. 24 2007,12:07)

QUOTE

(Dave-Vero @ Feb. 24 2007,11:02)

QUOTE

I assume a few more ancient dates might be made available for germination.  

Till now, a total of 10 seeds have been treated, but only one has succeeded. Since the seeds are considered to be archeological items in their own right, there is a problem convincing the Powers That Be to hand over their treasure to another institution.

It is very likely that once Metushelah (Methusalah in English) flowers, or, more hopefully, fruits, pressure will be exerted upon the seed guardians to be less stingy.

Another angle: Israel is a world leader in tissue culture propagation, and two institutes here are already supplying farms with excellent seedlings of p. dactylifera. I have e-mailed Dr. Holowey with an inquiry as to whether it would be possible to propagate the Judean variety in this manner, and am awaiting her reply.

Yes Ruby,    This has been discussed within this group.  Its always interesting to hear of further progress with this palm.

Unless they can germinate another palm from seed derived from the same source and epoch, and its of the opposite gender,  they will have to rely on tissue culture or take offsets to reproduce the palm,  however,  these will be clones.  They will still be very valuable palms !

[bgl]

Reuven,

Welcome to the IPS Forum! And that's truly a fascinating and amazing story!

Regarding the article(s) you've written - I certainly can't speak for either Scott Zona or John  Dransfield (editors of Palms), but I'm fairly certain that if an article is going to be considered for publication in Palms, then they don't want that article published elsewhere as well, so make sure you check with the editors on that!

Aloha!

Bo-Göran

[rubyz]

(bgl @ Feb. 24 2007,17:43)

QUOTE

Regarding the article(s) you've written - I certainly can't speak for either Scott Zona or John  Dransfield (editors of Palms), but I'm fairly certain that if an article is going to be considered for publication in Palms, then they don't want that article published elsewhere as well, so make sure you check with the editors on that!

It's already in the works; I've sent off an e-mail to Dr. Dransfield inquiring as to whether a follow-up article, containing information on the planting, DNA analysis and propagation of this palm, would be considered for publication in Palms.

[rubyz]

(chris.oz @ Feb. 24 2007,16:57)

QUOTE

 Its always interesting to hear of further progress with this palm.

I'll do my best to keep the forum updated, which should not be too difficult, seeing that I keep in touch with Dr. Holowey as well as the media.

[bgl]

Reuven,

I'm glad to hear you've been in touch with Dr. Dransfield! Looking forward to the article in Palms in due time!

Bo-Göran

[DoomsDave]

rubyz!

That IS stunning!  2,000 year old seeds, germinating?

Wow.

Hmm.

So how do we know that the dates cultivated in Judea are any different from ones cultivated elsewhere?   Judea was a perfect place for them, like much of the middle east.  

Are there any distinguishing characteristics?

In any case, good luck on getting more seeds and getting them to grow, regardless of what they turn out to be.  2,000 years is a while.

dave

[rubyz]

(bgl @ Feb. 24 2007,19:24)

QUOTE

I'm glad to hear you've been in touch with Dr. Dransfield! Looking forward to the article in Palms in due time!

It will certainly be some time until there are enough new developments to justify the writing of a new article, but now that the palm has been removed from protective isolation, I'm hoping things will start to gel quickly.

[rubyz]

(Dave from So-Cal @ Feb. 25 2007,03:01)

QUOTE

So how do we know that the dates cultivated in Judea are any different from ones cultivated elsewhere?   Judea was a perfect place for them, like much of the middle east.  

Are there any distinguishing characteristics?

In any case, good luck on getting more seeds and getting them to grow, regardless of what they turn out to be.  2,000 years is a while.

The Judean Date Palm is most definitely different, as has already been confirmed by initial DNA testing by Dr. Yuval Cohen at the Volcani Institute in the Negev.

   I have no details concerning the genetic differences, but hope to obtain them in the near future.

    As to physical differences, the research botanists noticed that the initial leaves sprouted were much lighter in color than in the currently cultivated varieties; in addition, the third leaf was considerably longer.

  At present, however, the palm looks like any other two year old p. dactylifera, so it will probably take at least another two years to detect further distinguishing physical characteristics.

  Finally, so as not to totally exaggerate, the seeds in question are almost certainly between 1,934 and 1,937 years old, unless the Judean Zealots had discovered a way to preserve the fruit - in which case the seeds could be as old as 1,947 years old.

[DoomsDave]

(rubyz @ Feb. 25 2007,04:00)

QUOTE

(Dave from So-Cal @ Feb. 25 2007,03:01)

QUOTE

So how do we know that the dates cultivated in Judea are any different from ones cultivated elsewhere?   Judea was a perfect place for them, like much of the middle east.  

Are there any distinguishing characteristics?

In any case, good luck on getting more seeds and getting them to grow, regardless of what they turn out to be.  2,000 years is a while.

The Judean Date Palm is most definitely different, as has already been confirmed by initial DNA testing by Dr. Yuval Cohen at the Volcani Institute in the Negev.

   I have no details concerning the genetic differences, but hope to obtain them in the near future.

    As to physical differences, the research botanists noticed that the initial leaves sprouted were much lighter in color than in the currently cultivated varieties; in addition, the third leaf was considerably longer.

  At present, however, the palm looks like any other two year old p. dactylifera, so it will probably take at least another two years to detect further distinguishing physical characteristics.

  Finally, so as not to totally exaggerate, the seeds in question are almost certainly between 1,934 and 1,937 years old, unless the Judean Zealots had discovered a way to preserve the fruit - in which case the seeds could be as old as 1,947 years old.

Fascinating!

Okay, so they're what?  Only 1947 years instead of a full 2000?

Oy, who cares . . . .

1947 years is also, I submit a very long time!

dave

[rubyz]

(Dave from So-Cal @ Mar. 05 2007,22:38)

QUOTE

Fascinating!

Okay, so they're what?  Only 1947 years instead of a full 2000?

Oy, who cares . . . .

1947 years is also, I submit a very long time!

Come on, Dave. I was only trying to show a bit of humor!

[freekypalmguy]

Here are your pictures Ruven,

Metushelah in January 2007

[freekypalmguy]

Metushehlah and Dr. Holowey.

[freekypalmguy]

Last one.

[DoomsDave]

(rubyz @ Mar. 05 2007,16:44)

QUOTE

(Dave from So-Cal @ Mar. 05 2007,22:38)

QUOTE

Fascinating!

Okay, so they're what?  Only 1947 years instead of a full 2000?

Oy, who cares . . . .

1947 years is also, I submit a very long time!

Come on, Dave. I was only trying to show a bit of humor!

So was I!  

dave

[rubyz]

Here's another pic:

This is the palm when it was a young sapling.

[rubyz]

Drs. Solowey (left) and Sallon holding the young sapling.

Notice the extra long frond on the left; this was never before seen by the researchers.

[Alicehunter2000]

It's not April 1st is it? This is not a joke? They grew a 2,000 year old seed? I've seen on other threads people complaining about seeds from seed dealers that are several months old

[rubyz]

(Alicehunter2000 @ Mar. 07 2007,05:23)

QUOTE

It's not April 1st is it? This is not a joke? They grew a 2,000 year old seed? I've seen on other threads people complaining about seeds from seed dealers that are several months old

Not a joke, but certainly unexpected, to say the least.

The idea for this project originated in the fertile mind of Dr. Sarah Sallon (picture above) who has been working in the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem with medicines derived from natural sources. Dr. Sallon was thought completely crazy when she asked for the seeds with the intent to germinate them. Dr. Solowey, who actually succeeded in "waking" the seed from its dormancy, also thought, initially, that she was batty.

But - you never know if you never try!

[ruskinPalms]

Do you have any concerns that the seed may not be that robust? What I am trying to say is that don't you worry about 2000 years of cosmic radiation bombarding the genetics of this seed? Might this palm be the equivolent of a 50 or even 60 year old woman (combined with a 50 or 60 year old man's sperm) giving birth to a child? Lots of opportunity for genetic mutation? Sorry to play the devil's advocate. Current pictures of a thriving date would assuage my fears. (are those pictures in this thread of the palm in question?)

[rubyz]

(ruskinPalms @ Mar. 07 2007,08:19)

QUOTE

Do you have any concerns that the seed may not be that robust? What I am trying to say is that don't you worry about 2000 years of cosmic radiation bombarding the genetics of this seed? Might this palm be the equivolent of a 50 or even 60 year old woman (combined with a 50 or 60 year old man's sperm) giving birth to a child? Lots of opportunity for genetic mutation? Sorry to play the devil's advocate. Current pictures of a thriving date would assuage my fears. (are those pictures in this thread of the palm in question?)

This is a very interesting question, and yes, the pics above are those of the Judean Date Palm.

    According to Dr. Solowey, the plant looks just fine, and is apparently growing normally.

    The seeds in question were excavated from an archeological dig in the 1970's, and were discovered in a jar several layers down in the excavation. They were then stored in a protective vessel kept in a closed drawer for thirty years. So, it is reasonable to assume that radiation should not have much of an impact, if any.

   What the palm turns out to be at fruiting/flowering age (5) and at maturity (16) is, of course, not entirely predictable.

   However - so far, so good!

[Alan_Tampa]

A human sperm is brand new regardless of the age of the resident body.  

A plant growing from ancient seed should blind one to any questions regarding viability as the plant exists.  Worrying about cosmic radiation bombarding a seed recovered from a dig is gold medal worrying and kudos; but why?  The site would have provided at least marginal shielding depending on depth.  

How deep was it?

I bet, deep enough.

Alan

[rubyz]

(Alan_Tampa @ Mar. 07 2007,18:44)

QUOTE

A human sperm is brand new regardless of the age of the resident body.  

A plant growing from ancient seed should blind one to any questions regarding viability as the plant exists.  Worrying about cosmic radiation bombarding a seed recovered from a dig is gold medal worrying and kudos; but why?  The site would have provided at least marginal shielding depending on depth.  

How deep was it?

I bet, deep enough.

Alan

While I totally agree with your remarks concerning the radiation question, your knowlede of zygotes seems to be somewhat incomplete.

    Firstly, all human sperm is produced well before a male is capable of ejaculation. and research has shown  that the sperm of older males is significantly less viable, less mobile and far fewer in number in an ejaculation.

    As far as a plant seed is concerned, a dormant seed continues to stay alive only by slowly consuming the nutrients within; for this reason, most old seeds will fail, and the seedlings of the few that germinate die very shortly subsequent to germination - since their food supply has been exhausted. Due to this fact, Dr. Holoway, in her attempt to germinate the seed, applied, among other things,  enzymes containing nutrients to supplement any food that might have remained within it.

    Concerning the viability of the palm, yes, it is currently thriving, but no one can really be certain how long it will stand up to possible climatic change, mutations in bacteria and other disease agents, etc.

[PalmGuyWC]

Reuven,

That's truly an amazing story, and it did make a splash in the media a few months ago. How about showing us some pictures of other palms that grow in Isreal, maybe some from a botanical garden?

It might interest you to know, one of our Palm Society members in N. Calif., who is a scientiest,  developed or helped develop the tissue culture process for reproducing P. dactilifera.

I heard that he was working on trying to tissue culture Butiagrus, but out of his own pocketbook since the organization with the funding was only interested in a food producing palm. I understand, with Butiagrus, he was never quite successful but it showed some promise.  It's a very expensive drawn out process and takes time and money to  develop the exact amount of combinations and preportions of enzymes and chemicals. What works for one species, will not work for another.

Since there is so much varieation in hybrid palms, wouldn't it be great if one super clone could be developed? I have a Butiagrus that has grown to be twice the size of a "normal" Butiagrus.  It's a monster palm with a trunk almost 2' in diamater and the fronds are near 20' long. It might make a nice subject for cloning.

Dick

[rubyz]

(PalmGuyWC @ Mar. 08 2007,15:29)

QUOTE

How about showing us some pictures of other palms that grow in Isreal, maybe some from a botanical garden?

one of our Palm Society members in N. Calif., who is a scientiest,  developed or helped develop the tissue culture process for reproducing P. dactilifera.

he was working on trying to tissue culture Butiagrus, but out of his own pocketbook since the organization with the funding was only interested in a food producing palm.

Dick, this is a pic of a specimen of the Medjool variety of p.dactylifera propagated by tissue culture and growing in a grove on one of our cooperative farms.

    Israel and the U.S. are two of only six countries throughout the world that do tissue culture research and sell specimens commercially. I don't know how many such facilities exist in the U.S., but I know there are at least two in France and Israel.

    All tissue culture research here is through private enterprise; in fact, both Drs. Sallon and Sollowey's research is funded solely through private donations - there is no government assistance. Hence, their biggest problem is funding expensive procedures such as radio-carbon dating. Dr. Sallon even asked me if I knew of any member-tycoon who could donate money to the Judean Date Palm project! (I don't think she was joking.)

    As for your request to see palms growing in Israel, I am currently planning a digital album called "Palms of Karmiel" (Karmiel is my home town), which will display various palms growing in private gardens (including mine, of course!), commercial areas, the industrial zone, municipal facilities and public areas. I will be more than happy to make the pics available on the forum as soon as I have enough material to display.

    Israel has only two botanic gardens (one in Jerusalem and one at Tel-Aviv University),  neither of which I've seen. I don't even know if they contain any palms, but I intend to find out.

[iamjv]

Rubyz,

 I for one, would certainly appreciate seeing your "Palms of Karmiel" album once you have it established.  Please inform the board when it's complete and how to view it.  Thanks in advance.  JV

[rubyz]

(iamjv @ Mar. 10 2007,15:58)

QUOTE

Rubyz,

 I for one, would certainly appreciate seeing your "Palms of Karmiel" album once you have it established.  Please inform the board when it's complete and how to view it.  Thanks in advance.  JV

It will probably take at least a couple of weeks to put it together; I'm still organizing the photo content. I already know the species I want to photograph, and I know where everything is because I've lived here for 29 years, and it's a pretty small town (45,000 - 50,000 residents).

    So, what remains to be done (aside from the photographing itself) is to decide which specimens of each species to select.

    I appreciate your interest, and I will certainly let the forum know when things have been finalized.

[Alberto]

BUMP!

[Dave-Vero]

Here's the abstract of the paper, published this evening in Science.

Science 13 June 2008:

Vol. 320. no. 5882, p. 1464

DOI: 10.1126/science.1153600

Brevia

Germination, Genetics, and Growth of an Ancient Date Seed

Sarah Sallon,1 Elaine Solowey,2 Yuval Cohen,3 Raia Korchinsky,3 Markus Egli,4 Ivan Woodhatch,4 Orit Simchoni,5 Mordechai Kislev5

An ancient date seed (Phoenix dactylifera L.) excavated from Masada and radiocarbon-dated to the first century Common Era was germinated. Climatic conditions at the Dead Sea may have contributed to the longevity of this oldest, directly dated, viable seed. Growth and development of the seedling over 26 months was compatible with normal date seedlings propagated from modern seeds. Preliminary molecular characterization demonstrated high levels of genetic variation in comparison to modern, elite date cultivars currently growing in Israel. As a representative of an extinct date palm population, this seedling can provide insights into the historic date culture of the Dead Sea region. It also has importance for seed banking and conservation and may be of relevance to modern date palm cultivation.

1 Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center, Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.

2 Arava Institute of the Environment, Kibbutz Ketura 88840, Israel.

3 Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Research Center 50250, Israel.

4 Radio-Carbon Laboratory, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.

5 Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.

Science. Link to abstract

And here's one of the references. I think the old Roman would be pleased:

Pliny, Natural History (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA, 1952), vol. XIII, ch. 9, pp. 44–46.

___________________________________________________________

I feel a bit guilty about hurrying this out, but the story's in the news media already. It can't be a coincidence that this important little report is published in a special issue of Science focusing on forests in flux:

"In the 13 June 2008 issue, Science examines the future of the world's forests against a backdrop of climate change and intensifying human activity. In Science, News reports take a look at how humans have reshaped wooded landscapes across the globe; a Review explains how forests influence climate through physical, chemical, and biological processes; and a series of Perspectives discuss studies of past forest change, predictive models of forest dynamics, and aspects of sustainable forest management. In addition, Science Careers highlights careers in forest ecology, a special podcast includes interviews about seed dispersal and tree resilience, growth of an ancient date seed, and rainforest diversity; and an online video presentation discusses some of the challenges of global forest governance."

[JimR]

Here is a link to an article about this.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/12/ancient.seed

[Dave-Vero]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1412...s3_head_dn14125

Another nice story, from New Scientist. They have the same photo as Science. Healthy-looking young palm!

[Alicehunter2000]

Everytime I read about this, it just blows my mind. 2,000 years is an incredible amount of time. It would sure be great if this plant can produce viable seed in a few years. I'm sure there are a few on the board ( including myself) that would love to have an offspring ...... even a few generations removed........from such a historic tree. Thanks for bringing this thread back.....Does anyone have Rueven's email address, it would be nice if he relized that his thread is still being discussed.

[Dave-Vero]

Another news story, this time from Science itself, with a photo.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/612/1

The story reminds us that "Judean dates represented Israel's biggest export business 2000 years ago." Trade networks back then operated on huge scales.

[AJQ]

It would be interesting to see an updated photo so we could see the progress over the last 17 months or so.

Regards Andy.