Origin of palm trees

Having palm trees is a delight to behold. They are plants so elegant, so showy and so, in short, beautiful that when you discover them you can no longer stop looking for information about them, especially when they tell you that there are about 3.000 species distributed throughout the temperate and warm regions of the world.

But What is the origin of palm trees? If you want to know the history of these beautiful plants, this article will enchant you 😉.

Origin of palm trees

The Palm trees appeared on Earth during the Cretaceous or Cretaceous period, approximately 145 million years ago. At that time, the planet was inhabited by the largest reptiles the Earth has ever seen: dinosaurs, which coexisted with placental mammals, that is, with those that protect their young within the placenta until they are sufficiently developed. to be able to live in the outside world.

The weather was warm, so much so that palm tree fossils have been found even in the north of present-day Germany. So the number of species that has appeared is enormous. But there is still an unsolved question: which plant did they come from?

The palm trees, the giant grasses

Although it is likely that you find it strange, palm trees are actually giant grasses, which in botanical jargon is known as megaforbia. It is true that they look like trees, but there are several things that differentiate them, the most important being the number of cotyledons (primitive leaves) that sprout as soon as they germinate.

In the case of our protagonists, only one appears, while in the woody plants two appear. A sample of this is the superior image of a young woman Washingtonia will spin. Reminiscent of grass on the lawn, right? This is because grass, including palm trees, they are monocotyledonous plants.

The palm trees and the human being

When the human being appears, begins to use palm trees to protect and feed itself, so that these plants come to be considered as a symbol of life. In Mesopotamia, it was the oracle tree, although as we have discussed, it is not really a tree.

But if there is a palm tree that has been used for millennia, specifically more than 5.000 years, it is the date palm. It is believed that the Phoenicians gave it the name Phoenix, but its Greek name indicates that it is dedicated to the legendary Egyptian mythological bird that is reborn from its ashes, Bennu.

Towards the XNUMXth century, a third of humanity lived thanks to palm trees. Unfortunately, respect for these plants and their natural habitat would not last much longer.

Currently, what is sought is to make money, at whatever cost. Therefore, what is being done is ending green areas to plant palm tree species that are more economically profitableand Cocos nucifera (coconut tree). Even so, it should also be noted that the love for these plants is only increasing, so that today it is easy to find associations that are dedicated to making them known, such as Spanish Botanical Association of Palms and Cycas.

Palm trees are plants of singular beauty, don't you think?