292 OEIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE COCOA PALM. 



The reported introductions of the cocoanut during the sixteenth 

 century to Jamaica, Guiana, Brazil, and West Africa afford no indica- 

 tion of importations from Asia, but are much more satisfactorily 

 explained on the supposition that the nuts were brought from Central 

 America. 



No other genus or species of palms is common to America and Asia 

 or the Polynesian Islands. The Asiatic origin of the cocoanut would 

 therefore be an anomaly of distribution for this entire order of plants 

 and is thus, from the botanical standpoint, highly improbable. 



The distribution of the cocoanut in the Pacific and Indian oceans 

 was not, however, a unique achievement for man, but was also accom- 

 plished with numerous seedless varieties of the sweet potato, taro, 

 breadfruit, and banana; the last having been introduced also into 

 tropical America in prehistoric times. Numerous tropical economic 

 plants, including the sweet potato, bottle gourd (Lagenaria), true 

 gourd (Cucurbita), cowhage (Mucuna), yam bean (Paclryrhizus), and 

 one or more species of true yams, all probably of American origin, 

 existed in Polynesia and in the Mala}^ region in prehistoric times. 



Although the derivation of numerous varieties of the cocoanut in 

 the Malay region implies long existence in that part of the world, 

 there is both traditional and historical evidence of a comparatively 

 late arrival in Ceylon and in the western part of the Indian Ocean. 



The generally accepted theory of the distribution of the cocoanut 

 by ocean currents is not supported by direct evidence. At the same 

 time, the cocoanut, as a seed, is delicate and short-lived, and special 

 conditions and care are required for successful germination and the 

 growth of vigorous seedlings. 



The cocoa palm is found in the Pacific and elsewhere only on inhab- 

 ited islands and coasts, and is unable to maintain an existence when 

 subjected to the competition of the wild vegetation of tropical shores 

 and forests. In the Pacific and Indian oceans the distribution of the 

 cocoa palm is conterminous with that of agricultural peoples, but the 

 species did not establish itself anywhere on the extensive tropical coast 

 line of the Australian continent, the aborigines of which were non- 

 agricultural. 



Contrary to general opinion, the cocoa palm is not confined to the 

 seashore or to the sea level, but has been found to thrive in several 

 elevated inland regions where the soil conditions are favorable, and 

 where temperatures are moderate and equable. The original habitat 

 of the cocoa palm is to be sought in South America, the home of all 

 the other species of Cocos and of most of the closely related genera. 

 More specifically, the probabilities favor the alkaline regions of the 

 Andes of Colombia, where it has been reported by Cieza de Leon and 

 Humboldt in valleys remote from the sea. 



