On 16/10/2013 11:04, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:24:15 +0100 (BST),
(Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:51:26 +0100, David Hill
wrote:

This mat be of interest to those who throw out old seeds
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sc...stockpile.html

Very interesting. See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judean_date_palm

Makes you wonder if the Svalbard seed bank on Spitsbergen is in the
right place!

Dates are exceptional plants, and both they and their seeds are
extremely drought and heat resistant.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I did wonder afterwards, if the palm became extinct in 150AD, how do
they know that these seeds are of that species? I don't really doubt
that they do know, they have ways and means after all, perhaps via DNA
from archeological plant remains, and/or determining that it's not
like any species known today, but it's still an interesting question,
as is why it went extinct in the first place, being apparently a
widely grown and commercially valued plant.

Actually 500AD but still a long time ago.
In those days I doubt they grew a range of different varieties, if you
had one that worked in your area then "if it aint broke don't fix it".
Then if the invading armies destroyed all the tree then that was it,
though why they couldn't grow again from date stones I don't know.
Probably easier and quicker to bring in new plants .