Winton — Anatomy of the Fruit of Cocos nucifera. 265 



Art. XXIX. — The Anatomy of the Fncit of Cocos nucifera ;* 

 by A. L. Winton. 



[Contribution from The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New 



Haven, Conn.] 



I. Morphology and Macroscopic Structure. 



Since the general structure of the cocoauut fruit has been 

 treated by numerous writers on systematic and economic bot- 

 any, only such facts are here given as are essential for a clear 

 understanding of the relation of the parts and the microscopic 

 structure. 



The flowers are arranged in spikes branching from a central 

 axis and inclosed with a tough spathe usually a meter or more 

 in length (tig. 1). A single female flower is borne near the 

 base of each lateral axis, and numerous male flowers are dis- 

 tributed on all sides of the axis between the female flower and 

 the apex. After the male flowers drop, each naked lateral 

 axis persists and is a prominent appendage of the fruit (figs. 2 

 and 3, S). Only one ovule of the three-celled ovary comes to 

 maturity, but the tricarpelary nature of the fruit is indicated 

 by its triangular shape as well as by the longitudinal ridges 

 and the three eyes or germinating hole of the nut. 



The epicarp of the fruit (fig. 3, Mpi) is a smooth tough 

 coat, of a brownish or grayish color. 



The mesocarp (fig. 3, JTes), consists of a hard outer coat but 

 a few mm. thick and a soft portion usually 3-4 cm thick on the 

 sides and much thicker on the base. Imbedded in the meso- 

 carp are numerous longitudinally arranged fibers, varying 

 in size from slender hairs to large, sparingly branching and 

 anastomosing, flattened forms. 2-3 mm broad. The large fibers 

 are situated chiefly in the inner layers, with their flat surfaces 

 parallel with the surface of the nut. 



Oftentimes the inner layers of the mesocarp become impreg- 

 nated with a brown fluid, which on drying, gives the thin tis- 

 sue a mottled brown appearance. 



* European microscopists have studied the foods and adulterants which have 

 come under their observation but have overlooked a number of distinctly Ameri- 

 can products. The writer has uodertaken to fill in some of these gaps by a 

 series of papers, of which this is the second. The first paper, on the anatomy of 

 maize cob. was published in the Oesterreichische Chemiker-Zeitung, 1900, p. 345, 

 and also in the Conn. Experiment Station Report, 1900, p. 186. 



Each paper will describe from the purely scientific standpoint the macroscopic 

 and histological strugture of the material investigated, and also in a final chapter 

 point out the application of this knowledge to the detection of adulteration. The 

 last chapter is not strictly suited to the pages of this Journal, but is so dependent 

 on the scientific descriptions which precede it that it would be almost valueless 

 if published separately. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Fourth Series, Yol. XII, No. TO. — October, 1901. 

 19 



