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Jun. 14th, 2005 12:14 pmhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/12/MNGJND7G5T1.DTL&hw=plant+2+000&sn=005&sc=892
I grew it from a wizened seed found in the ruins of Masada. The date it came from was almost 2000 years old. Nobody had ever germinated a seed that old before, but I was certain it could be done. A few chemicals, a nutrient rich environment, and hey presto -- a plant sprung up, a plant considered extinct since the early portions of recorded history.
I nurtured it along for months, carefully feeding it and repotting it and protecting it from parasites and fungi and extremes of light and water and temperature. It took a long time and a lot of work, but it grew from a small shoot to a large houseplant to a disreputable bush. It is now almost twelve feet tall and shades my back porch, a healthy date palm bearing a marvelous fruit untasted by any living human being.
Now, unfortunately, I have to deal with this snake. It appeared last night while I was pruning the palm, a yellow toothy bastard of some unknown species. To my surprise it spoke in a hissy, vaguely Semitic tongue, and even though I can't understand it, it hasn't given me a moment's peace.
I get the distinct impression it wants me to eat one of the dates. I don't know why it should want that, but I'm certain it does. The thing is, I'm not comfortable eating the fruit from this ancient tree. What if the human digestive system can no longer handle the things? And do I have the right to take for myself what rightly should be used to regrow the species?
Still, the history of the ancient date palm is legendary. It may have been one of the first foods cultivated by civilization. Certainly it was prized for ages as one of humanity's great treasures. It must taste divine.
That damned snake is hissing again. I'm calling pest control this afternoon, right after I have another look at my lovely old date palm tree. Its fruit is just so tempting!
I grew it from a wizened seed found in the ruins of Masada. The date it came from was almost 2000 years old. Nobody had ever germinated a seed that old before, but I was certain it could be done. A few chemicals, a nutrient rich environment, and hey presto -- a plant sprung up, a plant considered extinct since the early portions of recorded history.
I nurtured it along for months, carefully feeding it and repotting it and protecting it from parasites and fungi and extremes of light and water and temperature. It took a long time and a lot of work, but it grew from a small shoot to a large houseplant to a disreputable bush. It is now almost twelve feet tall and shades my back porch, a healthy date palm bearing a marvelous fruit untasted by any living human being.
Now, unfortunately, I have to deal with this snake. It appeared last night while I was pruning the palm, a yellow toothy bastard of some unknown species. To my surprise it spoke in a hissy, vaguely Semitic tongue, and even though I can't understand it, it hasn't given me a moment's peace.
I get the distinct impression it wants me to eat one of the dates. I don't know why it should want that, but I'm certain it does. The thing is, I'm not comfortable eating the fruit from this ancient tree. What if the human digestive system can no longer handle the things? And do I have the right to take for myself what rightly should be used to regrow the species?
Still, the history of the ancient date palm is legendary. It may have been one of the first foods cultivated by civilization. Certainly it was prized for ages as one of humanity's great treasures. It must taste divine.
That damned snake is hissing again. I'm calling pest control this afternoon, right after I have another look at my lovely old date palm tree. Its fruit is just so tempting!
