Origines et domestication du palmier dattier (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

The origin of date palm cultivation and the history of its diffusion remain poorly understood despite its prime economic and socio-cultural importance. The phylogenetic relationships of the date palm with other Phoenix species are still unclear. The cultivated date palm probably derived from wild populations of the same species but none has been clearly identified to date. The development of genetic and morphometric tools to differentiate cultivated, feral and wild populations of date palms appears as a prerequisite for the study of its domestication history. Archaeological remains point out an origin around the Persian Gulf. Multidisciplinary studies including date palms from its whole distribution area are necessary to apprehend the existence of other domestication center(s). The date palm grows in sympatry with several other Phoenix species and even if they are not the wild progenitor, they may have played a role at local scale in varietal improvement through introgression. The establishment of a pluridisciplinary approach grouping morphometrics, genetics and archaeology appears as the most appropriate process to understand the origins and the domestication of the date palm