PALM FAMILY (PALMAE) 



6. Palma de coco, coconut 



Coconut, the graceful palm lining tropical 

 shores and widely planted for fruit and ornament, 

 is so well known that it has become a symbol of the 

 tropics. Descriptive features are: (1) the slender 

 often leaning trunk, enlarged at base, ringed above 

 and 8-12 inches in diameter; (2) many pinnate 

 leaves 12-20 feet long with basal sheath of coarse 

 brown fibers, long petiole, and numerous very nar- 

 row sliiny yellow-green segments spreading regu- 

 larly in 1 plane on both sides of axis; (3) numer- 

 ous whitish or pale yellow male and female flowers 

 in bi'anched flower clusters at leaf bases; and 

 (4) fiiiit the familiar coconut, egg-shaped or 

 elliptic, consisting of a light brown fibrous husk 

 8-12 inches long, a hard shell, and 1 vei-y large 

 hollow seed with whitish, oily, edible flesh. 



Medium-sized palm, usually 30-60 feet high, 

 sometimes taller. The slender trunk is enlarged 

 to 16-20 inches in diameter at base, often slightly 

 inclined there, and may be leaning as a result of 

 the constant coastal breeze or after partial uproot- 

 ing by a hurricane. The gray or brown trmik is 

 slightly cracked. At apex is the relatively broad 

 evergreen crown of alternate, erect, spreading, ajid 

 drooping leaves. 



The basal sheath is nearly 2 feet high on sides of 

 petiole, surrounds the axis, and breaks as the 

 younger leaves expand. The stout yellowish 

 slightly concave petiole is 3-5 feet long, and the 

 blade 9-15 feet long and 3-5 feet wide. The lin- 

 ear leaflets or segments are 2-3i/o feet long and 2 

 inches wide, shorter toward apex, long-pointed, 

 leathery, parallel-veined, shiny yellow green 

 above, and dull light green beneath. The lowest, 

 dead leaves hang down against the tnmk, eventu- 

 ally shedding and forming a smooth ring scar. 



Flower clusters (panicles) 3-4 feet long rise 

 from 2 long, narrow, long-pointed sheaths 

 (spathes), the inner about 4 feet long, and bear 

 many slightly fragrant stalkless flowers. A 

 branch about 1 foot long has numerous small male 

 flowers and near the base 1 much larger female 

 flower, which opens later (monoecious). Male 

 flowers %-iA inch long and broad have 3 small, 

 pointed, whitish sepals % inch long, 3 oblong 

 petals nearly i/^ inch long, 6 widely spreading sta- 

 mens, and sterile pistil with 3 styles. Female 

 flowers about I14 inch long and broad, rounded or 

 3-angled, have 2 broad scales at base, 3 broad 

 round sepals %-l inch long, 3 rounded whitish or 

 light yellow rounded petals 1-11/4 inches long, and 

 light green pistil II/4 inches long with 3-celled 

 ovary and 3 minute stigmas. 



The coconut has a bluntly 3-angled husk %-li/^ 

 inches thick, which does not split open. The ellip- 

 tic or nearly round inner brown fruit with 3 round 

 spots near one end is essentially a seed covered 

 with the hairy hard outer shell. Inside is a 



Cocos nucifera L.* 



slightly sweet oily layer of stored food % inch 

 tliick and a large central cavity containing a 

 watery or milky liquid. This is one of the largest 

 seeds known, surpassed only by the 1-seeded 

 2-lobed fruit weighing up to 50 pounds of the 

 double-coconut {Lodoicea rnaMivIca), a tall fan 

 palm of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Flower- 

 ing and fruiting continuously through the year. 



Ranking among the 10 most useful tree species 

 to mankind in the world, coconut is the most im- 

 portant of cultivated palms. The fruits are eaten 

 raw, prejjared into candies, or shredded with pas- 

 tries. When immature, the soft jellylike flesh can 

 be eaten with a spoon. The watery liquid of green 

 fruits and the milky juice of mature ones are pure, 

 nutritious, cool, and refreshing drinks. Known 

 as cocos de agua, these green fruits are sold on 

 city streets. Under tlie name copra the dried 

 wliite oily ]>art of ripe fruits is marketed in large 

 quantities for the manufacture of soaps and coco- 

 nut oil, tlie latter for preparing margarine and 

 other foods and for cooking. Classed also as a 

 honey plant. The sugary sap collected from cut 

 unopened flower clusters is a fresh beverage 

 Imown as toddy and a source of alcohol. 



The trunks serve for posts. Walking sticks 

 have been made from the outer layer or ring of 

 the trunk. The inner part is a very soft, light 

 brown pith with scattered reddish-brown bundles. 



The leaves furnish thatch for roofs and shelters 

 and liave been made into lattice screens and fences. 

 Various articles, such as novelties, souvenirs, cups, 

 and flower pots, are made from the husks and 

 .shells. The shells have also been used for kitchen 

 implements and for high-grade charcoal. In 

 other regions of the world different parts of the 

 plant serve many purposes. Coconut fiber, or 

 coir, is made into mats, ropes, brooms, and 

 brushes. 



Certainly coconuts are among the most impor- 

 tant trees of Puerto Rico, with plantations or 

 orcliards totaling nearly 10,000 acres, mostly along 

 the sandy shores of the island and especially on 

 the northern coast. The trees thrive also in the 

 interior where soil moisture is ample and are 

 hardy in dry climates if irrigated. In plantings 

 for ornament the falling coconuts may be danger- 

 ous. 



Commonly growing wild along sandy shores 

 and planted as a fruit, ornamental, and shade tree 

 near houses and along streets. Also in Mona, St. 

 Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola. 



Range. — Native land unknown but thought to 

 be in Malayan or Indo-Facific region. Now thor- 

 oughly naturalized on tropical shores of the world. 

 Naturalized in southern Florida including Florida 

 Keys, through West Indies, and from Mexico to 

 South America. 



38 



