Coconut

Description:

The coconut palm tree has a single, smooth columnar trunk and can grow 50 to 100 feet tall, depending on the cultivar. The trunk is light grayish-brown in color, sometimes swollen at the base and usually gracefully curved or leaning. Leaves of the coconut palm tree are feather shaped, growing up to 18 feet long with individual lance-shaped leaflets that are 2 to 3 feet long and 2 to 3 inches wide. The evergreen leaves grow in a terminal crown at the top of the trunk.

Habitat:

Tom Owens Caye on Belize Barrier Reef.

Notes:

The coconut is the most cultivated nut in the world and a very important commercial crop in many tropical countries. The nut meat, coconut oil from the dried meat and milk are used for drinks, cooking, cosmetics and numerous other types of products. Unopened flowers can potentially produce coconut molasses and the hard-grained shell of the nut is carved into practical utensils and ornamental objects. Trunk wood is used for building and ornamental purposes and the coir from the fruit husk is woven for fabric or ropes.