When Lehi describes the tree he pays particular attention to the fruit of the tree which "was desirable to make one happy" (1 Nephi 8:10) and "was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I have ever seen" (1 Nephi 8:11).
According to George Potter and Richard Wellington, the tree Lehi describes could well be the date palm, which grows throughout the Arabian Peninsula. It is easy to see why Lehi described it as "a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." Here was the answer to his prayers, food for his family. Lehi received this dream in Arabia, where the "tree of life" is the date palm. In the Near East the date palm was a mainstay of survival.
There are a number of varieties of date palm. The color of the dates varies from the red khunayzi to the yellow khulask. The color and taste of the khulas is of interest since it is "considered one of the best commercial varieties of date in the world. It is a great favorite . . . especially in the rutub stage when it is pale yellow, touched with amber and filled with sweetness." The Arabs prefer to eat the dates when they are still yellow. In the west we never see the dates like this. When harvested for export the dates are left until they reach the Tamr stage, where they are all brown. The higher the temperature at which the fruit matures the more sweet it is. This is why the best dates in the world come from Saudi Arabia, where the summer temperatures do not drop below 90o F., even at night. Lehi would have been able to eat fresh pale dates which grew at higher temperatures than he would find in the Holy Land. It is not surprising then that Lehi states: "I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted" (1 Nephi 8:12). [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, pp. 57-58, Unpublished] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 11:7]
1 Nephi 8:10,11 Fruit [which] was desirable to make one happy . . . white, to exceed all (Potter) [Illustration]: In the field Lehi saw a tree with sweet, white fruit. The Palm tree, the tree of life of the Middle East is a type of this tree. The white dates were sweet and life giving, bringing joy to the hungry travelers. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, pp. 68-69, Unpublished]