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
Cursing the fig tree connected to the parable of the barren fig tree. F. F. Bruce states that fig trees produce ""taqsh"" before the season if they are going to bear fruit in the season itself. Since this one didn't, it was a sign that it would not produce any fruit that year either. Theology professor Craig Keener has used these passages as a reason for an early dating for the Gospel of Matthew, saying only someone with a close knowledge of the Mount of Olives would have known that its fig trees come out in leaves around the Passover time of year. In