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
Parable of the barren fig tree eating the forbidden fruit. The story suggests that the vinedresser is an observant Jew and the owner is a pagan, unfamiliar with the laws of first fruits. Now that the tree is entering its productive period, the vinedresser has saved it from the ax, without letting the master know what happened to the earlier fruit. However, the owner has yet another surprise coming, because in the fourth year, all the fruit is offered to the Lord. Luke may have picked up a Jewish tale of a Jewish laborer outsmarting his pagan master. In the end, the faithful prevail. Although the