Coconut Seedling

Description:

The slender, leaning, ringed trunk of the tree rises to a height of up to 25 m (80 feet) from a swollen base and is surmounted by a graceful crown of giant, featherlike leaves. Mature fruits, ovoid or ellipsoid in shape, 300–450 mm (12–18 inches) in length, and 150–200 mm in diameter, have a thick, fibrous husk surrounding the familiar single-seeded nut of commerce. A hard shell encloses the insignificant embryo with its abundant endosperm, composed of both meat and liquid.

Habitat:

Tom Owens Cay on Belize Barrier Reef.

Notes:

While the coconut can be found growing throughout the tropical regions of the world, its center of origin is not exactly known. Fossilized coconuts have been found in New Zealand, and the trees have been cultivated for over 4,000 years in India. This leads most botanists to believe that the species originated somewhere around the Indian Ocean. The exceptionally wide distribution of coconuts today is due to the influence of humans, having been carried from place to place by explorers and immigrants. Since the chief means of dispersal in nature is by the nuts floating in water to distant shores, the existence of all inland coconuts is undoubtedly the result of our actions. Other useful products derived from the coconut palm include toddy, palm cabbage, and construction materials. Toddy, a beverage drunk fresh, fermented, or distilled, is produced from the sweetish sap yielded by the young flower stalks when wounded or cut; toddy is also a source of sugar and alcohol. Palm cabbage, the delicate young bud cut from the top of the tree, is, like the buds from other palms, eaten as a salad vegetable. Mature palm leaves are used in thatching and weaving baskets. The fibrous, decay-resistant tree trunk is incorporated into the construction of huts; it is also exported as a cabinet wood called porcupine wood.