Phoenix atlantica in 1935 by the French botanist Auguste Chevalier. Its appearance is very similar to "Phoenix dactylifera", being more similar in form to "P. dactylifera" than to "Phoenix canariensis", and possessing characters of both. Tamareira is a clustering palm with 2 to 6 trunks, 5–15 m in height with dark green leaves 2–3 m in length. "P. atlantica" can be distinguished easily from "P. canariensis" by its clustering growth form and its shorter, straighter leaves. The Canary Island date palm is adapted to a wetter climate and cooler temperatures, down to −8 °C. Other distinctions between "P. atlantica" and "P. dactylifera"
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