Wild date palm fruit

What it is

This is Phoenix reclinata, also called Senegal date palm, a close relative of the cultivated date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. The fruit turns orange to reddish- or yellow-brown. Its flesh is edible and date-like, with a rather bland taste. The little oval fruits hang together in large, drooping bunches.

Where it comes from

Its home stretches across Africa, from Senegal east to Ethiopia, then through eastern and central Africa to Botswana and the Cape. It is also native to Madagascar. The palm grows in humid lowland woodlands, highland forests and on rocky hillsides. In Zambia it is especially a palm of swamps and riverbanks, with concentrations around Lake Bangweulu.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Mutunda and Kiryandongo, in western Uganda’s Bunyoro-Kitara region, ripe wild dates are picked from their clusters and eaten as snacks. The seeds have a separate use: they are dried and cracked open, then the kernels inside are boiled and eaten.

The palm supplies more than fruit. Its fermented sap becomes palm wine. Fibres from young, unopened leaves are made into mats, baskets, rope and string.

How it's grown

Wild date palm can reach 10–12 m (33–39 ft), with evergreen, feather-shaped leaves. Male and female flowers normally grow on separate plants. New palms grow from seeds or from shoots divided off at the base of an older clump. The plant grows in full sun or partial shade, with well-drained soil.

When and where you'll find it

In southern Africa, the fruit usually ripens from February through April. In the Bunyoro-Kitara communities, harvesting means cutting ripening bunches from the palm. The clusters are kept fresh for up to two days, and the ripe fruit is eaten directly as a snack: a brief fresh-fruit encounter in the places where the palm grows.