Sunset Palms

Palm trees have been important to man since the early ages of civilization. Archaeologist have found evidence that the Mesopotamian culture cultivated the date palm over 5000 years ago. Ancient religious texts such as the Bible and the Quran also mention palms on numerous occasions. There are over 2600 different species of palms. All of them belong to the family Arecaceae in the order Arecales. They are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate habitats. Today the palm is used primarily in landscaping but palms are still used to produce dates and coconuts and harvested for palm oil and other uses.