Synonyms: Dairee, Dairi
Origin: Iraq
Meaning:  “The Monastery Date”  (Popenoe 1913)
History:A semi-dry date intoduced from Basra, Iraq, in 1913 by Paul Popenoe.  Dayri was accidentally mixed with other varieties, but as the palms came into bearing they attracted attention because of the size, color and quality of the fruit.  Erroneously grown under the names of Awaidi and Hawazi, two rare varieties from southern Iraq, the palm was finally and positively identified by Nixon as Dayri in 1928 (Nixon 1934). By 1946 there were about 200 Dayri palms in the Salt River Valley of Arizona and 225 in California, more evenly split between the Coachella and Bard Valleys.