Date palm of the Tabernacles. Palm branches were scattered before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Date palm Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent region straddling between Egypt and Mesopotamia. The species is widely cultivated across Northern Africa, The Middle East, The Horn of Africa and South Asia, and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. "P. dactylifera" is the type
Niebla dactylifera Niebla dactylifera Niebla dactylifera is a fruticose lichen that grows only on San Nicolas Island in the Channel Islands of California. The epithet, "dactylifera", is in reference to the terminal finger-like branches. "Niebla dactylifera" is recognized by the thallus divided into tubular-prismatic branches that arise from a thick basal attachment area; the branches, which are not more than 3.0 cm high, become widened above similar to the palm of a hand from which develop many shorter finger like branches. The cortex is not more than 75 µm thick, in contrast to that of "Niebla dissecta", 75–110 µm thick, a similar