Dates
Phoenix dactylifera

No desert oasis would be complete without a few date palms rising up to greet weary travelers. Since the days of ancient Egypt, these chewy fruits have been an important food staple among desert dwellers, because the palm on which dates grow requires less water for its survival than any other crop in cultivation. Also, dates are highly nutritional, providing a solid amount of carbohydrates with a decent bit of protein, too. Grown in climates that are very dry and hot, one date palm can produce up to 200 pounds of dates a year! One of the world's leading producers of dates is Saudi Arabia, whose economy depended largely on date exports before oil was discovered there in 1936.