Modeling of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) inflorescence architecture, example of three Tunisian cultivars

Abstract

The present study was carried out to verify the statistical relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the date palms for simulating realistic 3D models. The vegetal material was composed of two Tunisian varieties of Phoenix dactylifera L., “Barhi” and “Rochdi”. The observations are taken place in Gabes and on one pair of palms per main stem and offshoot for each cultivar. The analysis of the characteristic dimensions of the pinnae and rachis allowed the determination of a minimum sample. The geometrical analysis confirmed the existence of a strong correlation between rotation angles and radial angles. The architectural analysis of the two Tunisian cultivars revealed that the distribution of characteristic parameter values of pinnae was the outcome of a regionalized variable along the rachis. This statistical study of relationships between the characteristic parameters in terms of vegetative aerial architecture of the two varieties allows executing a new measurement protocol for computing and simulating realistic 3 D models.