4 Field Museum of Natural History 



twenty coconuts. The flowering continues the year 

 around and a tree in prime condition yields upwards 

 of 100 fruits annually, distributed over four or five 

 harvests. The record in the Philippines is 470 nuts 

 from a tree. 



The leaves of the coco palm are attached directly 

 to the main stem. They are commonly twenty feet 

 or more in length. They are shed one by one as the 

 fruit clusters mature and drop, or are removed, so that 

 the clusters of ripe fruit are always associated with 

 the lowermost leaves. Each leaf-base with its sheath 

 completely encircles the central trunk, the character- 

 istic ridges or roughness of which are due to the old 

 leaf-scars. The dry bast-like leaf sheathes may be seen 

 surrounding the bearing portion of the trunk. Split 

 and partially torn away from their respective leaf 

 bases, they give it an untidy appearance. Their pres- 

 ence is puzzling to account for, till one observes them 

 in position on the topmost leaves. There they serve 

 to tie together the bundle of young leaves surrounding 

 the growing tip, a matter of great importance to the 

 tree in regions subject to severe winds. 



The near-ripe fruit of almost full size, but still 

 green, contains a fluid, slightly milky in appearance 

 and sub-acid, the "coconut milk," or "water," which 

 furnishes a pleasant drink. To obtain it, one must 

 cut through the outer fibrous tissue, then the inner 

 dense and hard layer which, like an egg shell, sur- 

 rounds the embryo plant with its stored food-material. 

 At an early stage this forms only a thin gelatinous 

 layer within the shell, the remainder being the fluid 

 "milk." As the coconut ripens the layer of "endo- 

 sperm," the botanical term for this food material, be- 

 comes thicker and of firm consistence and the water 

 more like milk. 



In some places a drink is obtained from the coco 



f 12] 



