Cultivated for millennia, the date palm has become the symbol of the Saharan oases. Together with the coconut palm, it is the best-known, most important and most widely cultivated palm. The species is unknown in the wild. It is typically grown in the Saharan oases.
There are more than 2,600 species of palm. You might think it is a tree — but not at all: it is a monocotyledon that contains no wood! While a tree has a trunk, the palm has a stipe. Moreover, there are male palms and female palms — what is known as a dioecious plant. This plant generally measures between 15 and 25 metres and can sometimes reach 30 metres in height! Its lifespan can even exceed 100 years!
Source: www.relais-sciences.org