CHAP. III. EDIBLE NUTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

 EDIBLE NUTS. 



ENDOGENS. 



PALMACE^E. 



Cocos nucifera. 



COCOA-NUT. 



Nurikel. 



BESIDES the ordinary kind of Cocoa-nut tree met with so com- 

 monly in Lower Bengal there are several distinct varieties, of 

 which may be mentioned in particular : 



1. The King Cocoa-nut tree. This Mr. Kobinson describes 

 as "very handsome, of a golden orange-colour, and as never 

 attaining to more than fifteen or twenty feet high." This is a 

 choice kind, native of Ceylon, where, Mr. Robinson observes, it 

 is " not easily procured, being confined to the gardens of the 

 higher Cingalese and a few European gentlemen." 



2. The Dwarf Cocoa-nut. This, Mr. Eobinson states, "attains 

 to about fifteen feet, and is much sought after in Ceylon 

 gardens." * 



3. The Brahmin Cocoa-nut produces large handsome nuts of 

 a clear deep golden colour, principally esteemed for the milk 

 they contain, but considered inferior as regards the quality of the 

 kernel. 



M. Le Goux de Flaix states, " There are three kinds culti- 

 vated in Hindostan, -and four more in the isles of the seas 

 adjacent to this country ;" and describes them as follows : 



'' 1st. The Cocoa-nut of the coast of Coromandel exhibits a husk 

 very smooth and shining, of a reddish yellow colour, on which 

 account it is called by the Hindoos ' The Brahmin Cocoa-nut.' 

 The sutures opposite to the side on which the eye is placed are 

 more swelled towards the base, a part which is also more flattened 

 than that opposite to it, even when enveloped in its husk. 



* { Agri-Hort. Society's Journal,' vol. iii. p. 162. 



