I 8 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



After all the male flowers have fallen, a period of from two to 

 five days elapses before the female flowers begin to open. These then 

 begin to open at the rate of two or three per day, and during this time 

 the inflorescence is entirely female. The duration of the female phase 

 depends upon the number of female flowers : at Peradeniya, it lasted 

 for from me to seven days. Each female flower is receptive for about 

 twenty-four hours Cor less); after twenty- four hours the stigma begins 

 to turn brown. 



It will be seen from the above how erroneous was the idea that 

 the female flowers were fertilised before the inflorescence opened. 

 Not only is that impossible, but fertilisation cannot occur until three 

 or four weeks after the opening of the inflorescence. Moreover, it 

 follows from the above data, that a female flower cannot be fertilised 

 with pollen from a male flower of the same inflorescence, for all the 

 male flowers have disappeared before the female flowers open. 



Whence then is the pollen which fertilises the female flower derived? 

 Well, the coconut, as is common knowledge, produces inflorescences in 

 continuous succession, and if they appear rapidly enough, or if the flower- 

 ing period of each is sufficiently prolonged, it may happen that, before 

 one inflorescence has finished flowering, the next may have begun, and 

 in that case it is possible that the female flowers of the first may be 

 pollinated from the male flowers of the second. In other words, the 

 flowering periods of successive inflorescences may overlap, and then the 

 female flowers may be fertilised with pollen from another inflorescence 

 on the same tree. Overlapping was found three times during the 

 year. It may be more frequent in the low country. Failing this 

 overlapping, pollination can only be effected by pollen from another tree. 

 This last point suggests interesting possibilities. Suppose, for in- 

 stance, that in a given plantation, none of the inflorescences 

 "overlapped," and that all the trees produced their inflorescences at 

 the same time. There would then be no pollen available when required ! 

 It is evident that one condition for efficient pollination is that the 

 different trees should produce inflorescences at different times, not all 

 at the same time. How far is this fulfilled ? Do trees of the same 

 variety in the same environment tend to flower at the same time ? Do 

 trees of different varieties tend to flower at different times? Is a 

 plantation of mixed varieties more prolific than one of one variety only ? 

 How is the pollen conveyed from the male to the female flower ? 

 The pollen of the coconut consists of simple sp h e rica! grains without 



