Nathan and I have a new commentary article in Current Biology this week that discussed a publication out in the same issue that identifies relict populations of the wild progenitor of date palm. Dates are a keystone species for agriculture in the Middle East and North Africa because this tree crop not only produces lots of delicious fruit but the tall trees also provide needed shade under which other crops can grow in desert oases. However, modern wild populations that were descended from the same lineage as the wild ancestors of cultivated date palm had not been clearly identified. Until now! The paper from Gros-Balthazard et al. reports the discovery of populations of wild date palms in remote areas of Oman that look to be cultivated date palms closest living kin, both based on seed morphology and DNA markers. Plus, the authors’ analyses highlight that additional wild gene pools must have contributed to the diversity of cultivated date palm as it spread westward into Northern Africa. Definitely read our dispatch and the focal paper to learn more about the history and cultivation of this fascinating tree crop system!

Wales N and Blackman BK. Plant domestication: wild date palms illuminate a crop’s sticky origins. Current Biology 27: R702-R704 (2017)

Gros-Balthazard M et al. The Discovery of Wild Date Palms in Oman Reveals a Complex Domestication History Involving Centers in the Middle East and Africa. Current Biology 27: 2211-2218 (2017)