STRUCTURE OF THE COCONUT TREE. 



37 



and youngest leaf, is from 1 to 1.5 meters (fig. 9, the distance 

 between points x and y). As leaves appear in the center of the 

 crown they are upright and tightly folded, like a closed fan, gi-ad- 

 ually opening and assuming a more oblique and later a horizontal 

 position as they mature. The gi-eat length of the leaves gives them 

 the appearance of considerable flcxibiUty as they wave in the breeze, 

 but it is impossible to bend away the 

 central leaves and get down any- 

 where near the center, this fact be- 

 ing due partly, of course, to the leaf 

 sheath, and also partly to the rigidity 

 of the stalk. At the inside base of 

 every leaf is a flower bud which en- 

 larges and splits open, allowing an 

 elongate sw^ord or spathe to develop 



Fig. 8.— Diagrammatic cross section of bud of 

 the coconut palm inclosed by some of the 

 outer leaf sheaths: a, b, c, d, e,f, g, h, Succes- 

 sive petioles, each extending laterally into a 

 leaf sheath. Immediately adjacent to each 

 leafstalk is a sword. 



to a length of 1 to 1.3 meters (fig, 9). 

 Then the sword itself splits longitudinally 

 and allows the flower spike to open out 

 Each spike bears both pistillate and stami- 

 nate flowers. An average tree will have 

 perhaps 10 spikes of nuts and a dozen or 

 so nuts on a spike. Usually 30 or 40 nuts 

 are set from a flower sj^ike, but seldom 

 more than 10 to 20 mature. The arrange- 

 ment of the crown of leaves in rosette 

 fashion furnishes an excellent receptacle 

 for rain, wliich runs down and soaks into 

 the fibrous sheath and serves to keep the 

 tender growing part in a constantly moist 

 condition. The base of the leaves also 

 serves as a catchaU for fallen flowers 

 -forms of debris which tend to rot close 

 to the trunk. Under normal conditions there is no injury, but under 

 certain conditions the debris and the constant moisture held in the 

 strainer furnish a means by which the disease may pass from an 

 innocuous condition among the hard tissues of the outer leaves to 

 that of a most virulent pest in the inner delicate growing tissues. 



228 



Fig. 9. — Diagrammatic longitudinal 

 section of bud of the coconut palm, 

 including the top of the crown: C, 

 Trunk; ^, heart; S,sword; SC, sword 

 sheath; LS, leafstalk; R, rachis or 

 fruitstalk. 



mature nuts, and the hke- 



