2 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



branches of these roots may grow upward, downward, 

 or horizontally, but at nearly a right angle from the 

 parent root. 



The old main roots of the coco-nut, like all other 

 woody parts of the plant, are remarkable for both 

 elasticity and tensile strength. Inside the proper wood, 

 which is itself strongly developed, is a "pith" whose 

 walls are also very thick and woody. This makes each 

 root a very stout cord. Eighty centimetres is not a 

 very exceptional diameter for a well-grown bole, though 

 a majority of them are somewhat smaller. The buried 

 part of a stem of this size will afford attachment for 

 nearly 8000 bases of roots, each 1 centimetre in 

 diameter ; an actual count usually shows 4000 to 7000. 

 These main roots may have few or no large branches, or 

 may have ten to twenty, which rarely reach a length 

 of 1 metre, or a diameter of 4 millimetres. The 

 main roots and these major branches bear numerous 

 fine branches, 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter. These 

 may be the ultimate division ; or they in turn may 

 bear finer branches, at most a very few centimetres 

 long, and about half a millimetre thick ; the life of 

 these finest roots is transitory, like that of root-hairs. 

 A less ample system of roots is formed in sand than in 

 firmer ground. 



All the roots of the coco-nut have a rigid shell, 

 called a hypodermis, which makes the finer roots rigid 

 in a measure not approached by such small roots of 

 other trees. In proportion to its size, a small root is 

 held by the soil more firmly than a larger one. Because 

 they are firmly fixed in their places, and are rigid, and 

 stand at right angles to the main roots, it is practically 

 impossible to move the branches by any pull on the 

 main roots. And since the root can therefore not be 

 drawn out of the ground, and can be subjected only to 

 a direct pull, and has great tensile strength, the coco- 

 nut's system of anchorage is a very perfect one. The 

 tree's natural habitat is the sea-shore, where it receives 

 the unbroken force of the fiercest storms ; but unless 



