Extinct tree grows anew from ancient jar of seeds unearthed by archaeologists

[HarveyDarkey]

Stephen Messenger
Science / Natural Sciences
October 5, 2013



For thousands of years, Judean date palm trees were one of the most recognizable and welcome sights for people living in the Middle East -- widely cultivated throughout the region for their sweet fruit, and for the cool shade they offered from the blazing desert sun.

From its founding some 3,000 years ago, to the dawn of the Common Era, the trees became a staple crop in the Kingdom of Judea, even garnering several shout-outs in the Old Testament. Judean palm trees would come to serve as one of the kingdom's chief symbols of good fortune; King David named his daughter, Tamar, after the plant's name in Hebrew.

By the time the Roman Empire sought to usurp control of the kingdom in 70 AD, broad forests of these trees flourished as a staple crop to the Judean economy -- a fact that made them a prime resource for the invading army to destroy. Sadly, around the year 500 AD, the once plentiful palm had been completely wiped out, driven to extinction for the sake of conquest.

In the centuries that followed, first-hand knowledge of the tree slipped from memory to legend. Up until recently, that is.

During excavations at the site of Herod the Great's palace in Israel in the early 1960's, archeologists unearthed a small stockpile of seeds stowed in a clay jar dating back 2,000 years. For the next four decades, the ancient seeds were kept in a drawer at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University. But then, in 2005, botanical researcher Elaine Solowey decided to plant one and see what, if anything, would sprout.

http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/extinct-tree-grows-anew-after-archaeologists-dig-ancient-seed-stockpile.html

[1000words]

1. Very cool. Thank you for posting, Harvey.

Rec

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, HarveyDarkey.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I hope they're able to grow lots more of them.

Since they're native to the area, they could serve a variety of purposes, especially considering that they produce edible fruit. It's like seeing an old friend brought back to life.

[cui bono]

4. Whoa!

That's pretty cool. Thanks for posting.

[Scootaloo]

7. Makes sense that a desert plant would have seeds with long shelf-life.

[DeSwiss]

5. K&R

MORE

[ffr]

6. Next they can bring back egg laying reptile dinosaurs

No, wait. They won't have to.

[Beartracks]

8. Nah, this variety just lays turds. n/t

[Ednahilda]

42. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Thanks for the laugh.

[Beartracks]

9. This is very, very cool. n/t

[Ellipsis]

10. How cool is that... thanks for posting.

[Rstrstx]

11. Some insight to dates (which never went extinct)

They may have been destroyed in one local area but the trees have been around for millennia. Dates are dioecious (separate male and female plants, like people), the female trees bear the fruit while the male plants supply the pollen. Given that Phoenix (the botanical name for date palms) are dioecious and complete whores - they'll cross with any of their kinfolk - it's possible the edible date is some sort of hybrid or a distinct ecotype that was discovered by man and subsequently cultivated, possibly enhanced by eugenics.

The better edible dates have to be grown from offshoots of specific cultivars (e.g. Deglet Noor, Medjool), the male parent usually doesn't matter. I'm not sure how long ago clonal propagation first began but it's been many many centuries if not millennia. It's not hard to do: a hammer and chisel can split a pup off of the parent plant at the base and it'll easily grow into a clone of its parent once new roots are established.

Still, random seedling female dates will often have tasty fruit - down here in South Texas you can pick up a ripe date and it usually isn't half bad even if it didn't come from some fancy pants cultivar (though a number can taste pretty underwhelming. Hybrid dates occasionally have decent tasting fruit but it's pretty rare). From the article it sounds like the Judean dates were just grown wild and the fruit was simply gathered off female plants, presumably the ones that tasted good.

The article stated that the sex of the tree should be known by 2012 (no word yet?), if it's female it'd be interesting to see what kind of taste it has. Unfortunately with only one tree it will be impossible to bring this particular strain back into horticulture without another tree of the opposite sex; at best you'll get a half-Judean date palm. I'm sure extensive genetic analysis of this plant will be conducted, in fact I believe the article stated as much. There may be strains of dates around somewhere that are very close to the ancient Judean strain.

I'm pretty sure this is the same tree I read about not that long ago, and it wasn't anywhere near as simple as just picking a seed out of a jar and planting it; very extensive preparation and treatment of the seed was done in a laboratory to enhance its chances of germinating. Luckily it worked, they didn't just throw the seed in a pot and stick it out by the back door to see if it sprouted.

Always neat to read about these things.

[LuvNewcastle]

13. Thanks for the more detailed info.

I'm thinking that maybe there are more seeds where that one came from. Surely the cache of seeds they found contained more than one Judean palm seed. I hope so, because from your post I gather that a hybrid tree wouldn't produce fruit as good as a pure breed. I'm guessing that they already have other varieties of date palms growing in Israel though, so a hybrid might be very similar to the Judean palm breed.

Sometimes I can eat dates, but usually they're too sweet for me. I imagine they were quite a treat for people thousands of years ago since they had never tried sugar. They probably looked at them like candy growing on trees. I wonder if they mixed them with carob and made candy bars out of them.

[enki23]

36. They can just backcross like crazy, no matter what sex this one is, to get very close. Eventually.

.

[Historic NY]

12. Interesting, hope it outlasts the ones I buy.

[cer7711]

14. Beautiful! Awesome!

Just think--we're looking at a tree that hasn't been seen for some 1500 years.

Blessed are the peacemakers. And the tree planters.

[Laelth]

15. Nifty. k&r

I want one, but I doubt it would grow here.

-Laelth

[a kennedy]

16. reminds me of the shoe with a plant growing in it from the movie wall-e

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.iconarchive.com/show/wall-e-icons-by-artua/plant-icon.html&h=256&w=256&sz=60&tbnid=2zq5x6dQLOroRM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=90&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dplant%2Bin%2Bwall-e%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=plant+in+wall-e&usg=__MZHLeTLDEdw_y6a5-SPkKkWYz58=&docid=OJeH6X1_qWpqaM&sa=X&ei=GKNSUuiKH-mfyQGY44HADQ&ved=0CCsQ9QEwAA


Loved this movie.....

[Javaman]

17. So this is how the zombie apocalypse starts. nt

[kentauros]

19. You're thinking of The Day of the Triffids.

You can only grow zombies out of the ground if you plant Hydra's teeth

[Javaman]

20. Ya got me.

I failed my geek mytholody.

[kentauros]

21. I just remember watching those old movies

especially Jason and the Argonauts, and the skeleton fight scene

[Javaman]

24. Loved that scene.

I still will stay up and watch it if I see it's on.

simpler times. Harryhausen was a genius

[msanthrope]

25. That is a great scene. nt

[mikeysnot]

35. Ohh yeah

Ray Harryhausen was the shit when I was a kid.

[xchrom]

18. du rec.

[Berlum]

22. Jurassic Garden

[raouldukelives]

23. Nice! That is incredible and very hopeful. nt

[ladjf]

26. I'm thrilled that they were able to successfully germinate the seeds. However, it seems that it

was careless to "toss the seeds" into the desk drawer. They could well have died right there.

[HarveyDarkey]

30. It probably wasn't a desk drawer

was probably in an environmentally controlled room for the storage of artifacts.

[Leopolds Ghost]

27. Why Plant Just One??

?

[Dreamer Tatum]

28. In related news

I found a pair of dirty boxers in the corner of my closet, probably left there since 2009 or so.

I washed them and am wearing them now.

[Egalitarian Thug]

29. K&R. Very cool.

[eppur_se_muova]

31. Now, can they find some Silphium seeds ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium

[robinlynne]

32. OK. THIS IS SPECTACULAR!!!! excuse the caps.

[Motown_Johnny]

33. IT IS THE END TIMES!! THE PROPHECY HAS COME TRUE!!

but you know we are going to be hearing this from the nut jobs soon enough

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024&version=CEB

^snip^

Matthew 24

32 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that the Human One[e] is near, at the door. 34 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.


Edit to add: Papal prophecies had this Pope as the last one (although they seem to have gotten his name wrong).

[kentuck]

34. That is amazing!!!

[840high]

37. k/r

[NMDemDist2]

38. that is totally freakin wicked!! n/t

[gulliver]

39. Great post!

Thanks!

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. that is a cool story

[malthaussen]

41. Coolness! n/t