Palm sugar sap ('toddy') from the flowers. The date palm has two species, "Phoenix dactylifera" and "P. sylvestris", and both are sources of palm sugar. "P. dactylifera" is common in the Mediterranean and Middle East. "P. sylvestris" is native to Asia, mainly Pakistan and India. Date palms are cultivated mainly for dates. Palm sugar is made from the tree's sap. The nipa palm ("Nypa fruticans") is native to the coastlines and tropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm tree that grows in a watery mangrove biome. Only its leaves and flowers grow above water. Palm sugar
The Phoenix and the Turtle his sister, for whom Salusbury himself had written a poem. An alternative is to interpret the Turtle as John Salusbury and the Phoenix as Queen Elizabeth I, which would explain the chastity of the relationship and the implication that their "child" is something mystical rather than physical. Elizabeth was often connected to the phoenix, and she is referred to as the "maiden phoenix" in the play "Henry VIII", partly written by Shakespeare (though the "maiden phoenix" passage is typically attributed to John Fletcher). Two panel portraits attributed to Nicholas Hilliard are known as the "Phoenix" and "Pelican" portraits because of