What the Coco Palm Means to the Tropics— By John Gifford, 



Flor- 

 ida 



A TREE THAT GIVES MAN FOOD, SHELTER, DRINK, AND A FEW OTHER THINGS BESIDE, AND MAKES 

 LIVING AN EASY PROBLEM TO THE PEOPLE OF THE TROPICS — POSSIBILITIES OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION 



IT IS so mucli better to call this tree 

 the "coco palm" than the "cocoanut 

 palm tree." There seems also no reason 

 for spelling coconut ^ith an a in it. The 

 source of this word is probably not known, 

 but when no other source is plausible, 

 ancient Greek or Latin is sought, and a 

 possible origin is guessed at, for instance 

 the Greek kokkus, a berry. The natives 

 of the Bahamas are called "Conchs," 

 apparently because they are fond of the 

 shellfish called conch, from the Latin 

 concha, a shell. It mere than likely comes 

 from a very old English word similarly 

 spelled, meaning a "beach thief," or 

 "beach comber." 



The use of an a in the word simply 

 helps to confoimd it with cacao, coca, 

 and a few other plant names with similar 

 spelHng. The Spanish call it coco, and 

 the Germans Kokos- 

 palme. The generic 

 name is Cocos, the 

 specific name nuci- 

 fera, and when Lin- 

 naeus called it nuci- 

 ferous, or nut-bear- 

 ing, he perpetuated 

 in its name its most 

 striking quality. 

 The use of the word 

 "perpetuated" is 

 good, since Cocos 

 nucifera is one of 

 the few plant names 

 which have not been 

 changed a dozen or 

 more times by ar- 

 dent botanists. 



From the stand- 

 point of utility, the 

 cocopalm leads the 

 procession in the 

 tree world. As to 

 beauty, that de- 

 pends altogether on 

 the character of 

 your art education. 

 I have heard both 

 the royal palm and 

 coco palm hkened to 

 huge feather dusters 

 set on end over the 

 landscape. This 

 much is certain — a 

 coral strand without 

 coco palms would 

 look like Father 

 Time without his 

 whiskers. 



In spite of the 

 fact that the fruits 

 of the royal palm 

 are only used for 

 pig-feed, this tree is 

 more stately and a coco paim with npe nuts 



aristocratic than the coco palm. It is per- 

 fectly straight, smooth, and columnar and 

 well fitted for avenues leading up to South- 

 ern mansions. The coco palm, on the other 

 hand, is plebeian. It bends accommodat- 

 ingly at the start, and has pronounced 

 ridges where the massive leaves have 

 fallen away, which give the monkey-Kke 

 pickaninny a good toehold. 



It is a fitting shade to the hut of a fisher- 

 man, for with a long-handled sponge hook 

 he can pull down at any time a green 

 nut which yields a cool, sweet, fresh, in- 

 \dgorating drink from nature's own dis- 

 tillery. Strange to say, this liquid is under 

 pressure and, although there is not the 

 decided "pop" which is always looked for 

 in the case of a soft drink, there is a good 

 active "squirt" indicating that the water 

 is fresh and the nut sound. Inside, under 



the shell, which in this stage is just begin- 

 ning to harden, there is a layer of soft 

 nutritious jelly. 



The white meat of the ripe nut is used 

 for candy, feed for animals, and, when 

 ground very fine, makes a cream which 

 is delicious on fruits, etc. I have seen 

 chickens, goats, dogs, pigs, and pickaninnies 

 all feeding in the same yard at the same 

 time on the white meat of the coconut. 



The coco palm is a queer tree — it 

 seems to love the winds and salt of the 

 seashore; yet some scientist has tried 

 to prove that its home is inland on a high 

 plateau in South America. 



It has been pictured in times past as 

 a perfect adaptation to the seashore. 

 What the date is to the desert, the coco 

 palm is to the strand. The hard shell 

 of the nut is filled with a rich oily meat 

 which floats high. 

 The germ is pro- 

 tected and well sup- 

 pHed -n-ith nutriment 

 for the days of its 

 youth. On the out- 

 side of the shell 

 there is a pad of 

 fibre which protects 

 it when it falls to the 

 hard coral strand. 

 It win not break 

 when it falls, it 

 boimds and roUs 

 like a ball down the 

 incline into the sea, 

 and floats and floats 

 and floats till 

 washed on some 

 muddy shore which 

 the coral polyps, the 

 waves, and the man- 

 grove trees have 

 been many a year in 

 making. Then it is 

 gradually covered 

 with sand and sea- 

 weed by wind and 

 wave. Soon it 

 springs from one of 

 the three eyes in the 

 end of the nut. The 

 leaves are at first 

 simple, and in youth 

 the tree needs shade, 

 which it gets natu- 

 rallyfrom the bushes 

 on the shore. Soon 

 it throws out great 

 compoimd leaves of 

 woody texture, some 

 of which are fully 

 fifteen feet in length. 

 Think of leaves fif- 

 teen feet long! In 



This and the trees in the background have the characteristic leaning tendency & leW yearS, SelUOm 



176 



