Up to 25 leaves are produced each year and these have a functional life of about four years. In common with other palms, date palms have a single growing point and the plant will die if this is removed. Date palms are dioecious, bearing the male and female flowers on separate plants. The root system is extensive with roots attaining lengths of 3-13 metres. Date palms can be propagated from seed but these do not produce fruit that is to true to type.
Propagation is also possible from offshoots which grow from the trunk of the tree.
Most of these arise from the base of the trunk but some occur as aerial offshoots. After offshoots have reached a length of about 20 cm they can, with some difficulty, be removed from the tree and used as planting material. Offshoots have the same genetic characteristics as the parent palm. More recently, tissue culture techniques have been used to propagate date palms. Under good growing conditions, fruit production commences about five years after planting with peak bearing being obtained at year twelve.