Phoenix theophrasti ancient Greek ‘father of botany,’ had described several types of palms, including one from Crete. Apart from the usually inedible dates and upright fruit clusters, the Cretan species can appear quite similar to the cultivated date ("Phoenix dactylifera"). "Phoenix theophrasti" grows up to 15 m tall, usually with several slender stems. The leaves are pinnate, 2–3 m long, with numerous rigid greyish-green linear leaflets 15–50 cm long on each side of the central rachis. Dead leaves are marcescent, remaining attached to the stem for years after withering. The fruit is an oval yellowish-brown drupe 1.5 cm long and 1 cm
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