Phoenix (plant) hybridisation and cross-pollination. Several natural hybrids were hence obtained: "P. dactylifera X. P. sylvestris "(India)," P. dactylifera × P. canariensis" (Morocco, Algeria and Israel), and " P. dactylifera × P. reclinata "(Senegal). "Phoenix" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including "Paysandisia archon" and the "Batrachedra" species "B. amydraula" (recorded on "P. dactylifera"), "B. arenosella" and "B. isochtha" (feeds exclusively on "Phoenix" spp.). The fruit of "P. dactylifera", the date of commerce, is large with a thick layer of fruit pulp, edible, very sweet and rich in sugar; the other species have only a
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil a tree, holding out their hands to the fruit, while between their backs is a serpent, giving evidence that the fall of man account was known in early times of Babylonia. The British Museum disputes this interpretation and holds that it is a common image from the period depicting a male deity being worshipped by a woman, with no reason to connect the scene with the Book of Genesis. The Tamil poem "Tala Vilasam" recounts a legend of the tree that parallels the Biblical account. In it, the Creator Brahma finally allows the people access to the tree- which, in