150 The Journal 
ence, it is entirely contrary to the opin- 
ion of writers who have been familiar 
with the actual conditions and behavior 
of the palm in the Pacific. Such wri- 
ters agree that there are no wild palms, 
that the presence of coconuts is every- 
where the work of man, and that the 
palms do not survive for any great 
period the withdrawal of human assist- 
ance.! 
ADAPTATIONS FOR GERMINATION 
The unique habit of the coconut of 
preserving a store of water in the interior 
cavity of the seed, the very large amount 
of food material stored in the “‘meat”’ 
of the nut, and the very thick, tough, 
fibrous husk are the most specialized 
features. Assuming that these pecu- 
liarities were necessary to assist in 
germination, it is reasonable to believe 
that the coconut palm must have 
developed in a relatively dry climate, 
where the young plants had to grow to 
large size before they could reach sup- 
‘plies of moisture in the soil. 
Such extensive provisions for the 
storage of food and water would seem 
to be unnecessary in a maritime plant 
able to draw moisture from sandy 
beaches flooded twice a day by the 
tides. The distance to permanent 
moisture on a sandy beach is very 
short; in fact the sand is never really 
dry at all except at the surface. For 
a plant able to thrive on a salt solu- 
tion, a covering of an inch or two of 
sand would be sufficient protection 
against drying out. The great size 
of the nuts would be a disadvantage 
for a seashore palm as keeping the 
seeds from being buried in the sand. 
The palms that live on the seashore, 
such as our southern palmettoes, all 
have small seeds. 
It is only when we think of the coco- 
nut as growing in an interior region with 
an alkaline soil and subject to pro- 
longed drought, that we can appreciate 
the significance of the large seed, or 
think of the large store of food and 
moisture, and the very thick husk as 
characters that give the palm special 
1 Cook, O. F. 
U. S. National Herbarium, 7:257—293, 1901. 
The Origin and Distribution of the Coconut Palm. 
History of the Coconut Palm in America. 
of Heredity 
adaptation to the natural condition of 
environment. Many of the palms re- 
lated to the coconut are forest species, 
or at least able to develop in partial 
shade. The coconut, on the contrary, 
is extremely intolerant of shade, and 
must have had its development in a 
region where other vegetation was 
absent or relatively sparse and open. 
MOISTURE IN THE HUSK 
The coconut is certainly well equip- 
ped to protect the embryo or the 
young seedling from the danger of dry- 
ing. In addition to the moisture car- 
ried in the meat of the nut and in the 
central cavity, a still larger supply can 
be carried in the fibrous husk, and this 
may even be replenished from rains or 
other surface water after the young 
plant has begun to grow, and the husk 
opened and partly decayed. In addi- 
tion to thus acting as a sponge, the 
husk serves the young plant in another 
way, as a medium for starting the 
growth of the roots before they enter 
the soil. 
The whole process of germination 
may be completed inside the husk. 
And not the germination alone, but 
the subsequent growth of the young 
plant, may go on for months without 
any external contacts, the leaves often 
attaining considerable size before the 
roots have extended beyond the fibers 
of the husk. 
A SELF-POTTED PLANT 
In the Philippine Islands where 
thousands of these palms are cultivated, 
it is often the custom to tie the nuts in 
pairs and hang them over a pole, fence, 
or around posts. Under these condi- 
tions the nuts will obviously receive no 
water from the soil, and it is apparent 
that they require no further attention, 
for in a few months the young plant has 
pushed its way through the husk and 
can be placed in its permanent location 
in the field. 
The coconut seedling, with its ample 
provision for food and moisture and its 
fibrous husk for the accommodation 
Contributions from the 
Con- 
tribution from the U. S. National Herbarium, 14:271-342, 1910. 
