Difference between revisions of "Coconut"

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{{Taxobox
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__NOTOC__{{Plantbox
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| color = lightgreen
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| name = ''Cocos nucifera''
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| name = Coconut
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| common_names = Coconut
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| status =  
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| growth_habit = palm tree
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| high = 30m (? ft){{wp}}
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| wide =    <!--- 65cm (25 inches) -->
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| origin = ?  <!--- Mexico, S America, S Europe, garden, etc -->
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| poisonous =    <!--- indicate parts of plants which are known/thought to be poisonous -->
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| lifespan = perennial
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| exposure = ?  <!--- full sun, part-sun, semi-shade, shade, indoors, bright filtered (you may list more than 1) -->
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| water = ?  <!--- frequent, regular, moderate, drought tolerant, let dry then soak -->
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| features = tropical effect, fruit
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| hardiness =    <!--- frost sensitive, hardy, 5°C (40°F), etc -->
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| bloom =    <!--- seasons which the plant blooms, if it is grown for its flowers -->
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| usda_zones = ?  <!--- eg. 8-11 -->
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| sunset_zones =    <!--- eg. 8, 9, 12-24, not available -->
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| color = IndianRed
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| image = 1859-Martinique.web.jpg
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| image_width = 180px    <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical -->
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| image_caption = A coconut palm
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| regnum = Plantae
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| divisio = Magnoliophyta
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| classis = Liliopsida
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| ordo = Arecales
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| familia = Arecaceae
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| genus = Cocos
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| species = nucifera
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}}
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{{Inc|
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[[Image:Koeh-187.jpg|right|thumb|Coconut Palm (''Cocos nucifera'')]]
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The coconut, ''Cocos nucifera'', is the most important of cultivated [[palm]]s. Its nearest relatives, whether or not regarded as in the same genus, are natives of [[tropical]] [[America]]. For this and for other reasons which have been presented by Cook, it must be believed that the coconut is a native of America, and that it was carried westward across the Pacific in prehistoric times. While the nut will float and retain its power of germination for a considerable time, its propagation from island to island in known cases has practically always been the deliberate work of men, and it is probable that men were also responsible for its crossing the Pacific. It was a cultivated plant in [[Polynesia]] and [[Malaya]], and in many places the chief crop, at the time of the discovery of this part of the world by Europeans. But it reached Ceylon recently enough so that its introduction is a matter of fairly reliable legend. It is now grown in all tropical countries except the interior of continents. Its cultivation extends somewhat beyond the tropics, both north and south, but its growth at these extremes, in Florida, India and Madagascar, is not thrifty enough to give it any industrial importance. Within the last two decades, the rise in the price of oils and the discovery of new uses for coconut-oil have caused a tremendous increase in the area devoted to the plantation and cultivation of coconuts.
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{{SCH}}
  
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Cocos nucifera, Linn. Coco Palm. Coconut Tree. Caudex 40-100 ft. high, flexuous, thickened at the base: Lvs. 12-18 ft. long; Ifts. linear-lanceolate, 2-3 ft., coriaceous, flaccid: petiole 3-5 ft., stout. Seashores within the tropics and at Miami and Palm Beach, Fla. Indigenous to Cocos or Keeling Isls. of the Indian Ocean, but recently thought to be native of Trop. Amer.— Produces the coconuts of commerce. Var. aurea, Hort., is a form remarkable for its orange-yellow sheaths, petioles and midribs." It is known in cult, only in England.
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| image = Koeh-187.jpg
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{{SCH}}
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| image_caption = Coconut Palm (''Cocos nucifera'')
 
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| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
 
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| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
 
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| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
 
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| ordo = [[Arecales]]
 
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| familia = [[Arecaceae]]
 
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| genus = '''''Cocos'''''
 
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| species = '''''C. nucifera'''''
 
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| binomial = ''Cocos nucifera''
 
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| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
 
 
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{{otheruses}}
 
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The '''Coconut Palm''' (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the Family [[Arecaceae]] (palm family). It is the only species in the [[genus]] ''Cocos'', and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with [[pinnate]] [[leaf|leaves]] 4-6 m long, pinnae 60-90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the [[trunk (botany)|trunk]] smooth. The term ''coconut'' refers to the fruit of the coconut palm.
 
  
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The coconut palm is grown throughout the [[tropics|tropical]] world, for decoration as well as for its many culinary and non-culinary uses; virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human use. It is used in many tropical drinks, such as the [[Piña Colada]].
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==Cultivation==
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In the first years after the coconuts are transplanted, it is good policy to raise catch-crops between the trees. But these crops should be so chosen that they will not compete with the coconut for light or water; and from the profit they pay, a return should be made to the soil of fertilizers at least sufficient to replace what they have removed. By the time the grove is four years old, the coconuts will shade the ground and it will no longer be possible to raise catch-crops on a large scale. Then, but not before this time, it is good practice to use the grove for pasture. The returns from live-stock should be at least sufficient to pay for keeping the plantation in good condition and cattle will themselves do a large part of the work in keeping down the other vegetation. Pasturing of other live-stock in coconut groves is in general not to be recommended. It is not customary anywhere in the tropics to give to coconut plantations such cultivation as is given to orchards in temperate countries. It has ever been believed that any but the most shallow cultivation would be detrimental by destroying the roots near the surface, and that machine-cultivation was likely to be top expensive to be profitable, in view of the time that it would have to be kept up before the coconut begins to pay returns. Limited experience in the Philippines indicates that real cultivation produces very much the same results with coconuts as it does with other crops. Coconuts respond, as do other crops, to the application of manures containing potash, nitrogen, and phosphorus. So far as the very limited evidence shows, the demand for these three fertilizing elements is in the order given. With ordinarily good treatment, coconuts come into bearing in seven or eight years. Single trees of standard varieties will bear fruit in five years, while others will require ten. If the coconut is treated as a wild crop, which is by no means uncommon, and little or no attention is given it after the first three years, it will be ten or fifteen years, as a rule, before a full crop is produced and even then the crop will be an inferior one.
  
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== Origins and cultivation ==
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The coconut makes on the climate the characteristic demands of a typically tropical plant. It thrives where the mean annual temperature is 72° F. or higher, and where there are no great differences in temperature between seasons. Except where supply of ground water makes it independent of local rainfall, the coconut demands an annual rainfall of at least one meter (about 40 in.); and this precipitation should be well distributed through the year. In most of the best coconut countries, the rainfall is considerably more than one meter. The coconut can endure exceedingly drying conditions for short periods, and is accordingly adapted to the intense light of the seashore, to resisting strong winds, and to enduring salt water about its roots for short periods of time. Moreover, it will live through prolonged droughts. But long dry seasons cut down the crops; and the damage done by droughts lasts for as much as two or three years after the return of rain. A dry season of five or six months every other year will keep the crop at all times down to not more than 40 per cent of what it would be if the supply of water were constant. If there is an ample supply of soil-water, dryness of the atmosphere is favorable to the best production. Seacoasts usually have higher land back of them, and the ground-water from the higher country circulates through the soil toward the sea. Near the shore it comes near enough to the surface to be reached by the roots of the coconut. For this reason, coconuts thrive on the seashore under climatic conditions that prevent good development in the interior. This is the principal ground for the idea that coconuts thrive only near the sea. Around the bases of volcanoes in the interior, similar soil conditions are met with, and such localities are admirably adapted to this crop.
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The origins of this plant are the subject of controversy, with some authorities claiming it is native to [[South Asia]], while others claim its origin is in northwestern [[South America]]. [[Fossil]] records from [[New Zealand]] indicate that small, coconut-like plants grew there as long as 15 million years ago. Even older fossils have been uncovered in [[Rajasthan]], [[TamilNadu]], [[Kerala]] and [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]. Regardless of its origin, the coconut has spread across much of the tropics, probably aided in many cases by sea-faring peoples. The fruit is light and buoyant and presumably spread significant distances by marine currents. Fruits collected from the sea as far north as [[Norway]] have been found to be viable (and subsequently germinated under the right conditions). In the [[Hawaiian Islands]], the coconut is regarded as a [[Polynesia]]n introduction, first brought to the islands by early Polynesian voyagers from their homelands in the [[Oceania|South Pacific]]. They are now ubiquitous to most of the planet between 26ºN and 26ºS.
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===Propagation===
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The coconut is produced only by seed. Nuts for this purpose should of course be selected from conspicuously good trees. They are usually planted in seed-beds, although, on a small scale, there are various other local methods of handling them during germination. The best treatment is to take them from the seed-bed when the plumule is not more than 6 inches high, which will usually be after about six months. To avoid the expense of keeping the groves clean while the trees are small, it is common practice to leave the nuts for a longer time in the seed-beds, but the transplanting of older seedlings, even with the greatest practicable care, sets them back for several months. In the Jaffna district of northern Ceylon, the nuts are transplanted from the first seed-beds to others in which they have more room, and are not put in their permanent places until they are three or four years old.
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{{SCH}}
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The coconut palm thrives on sandy soils and is highly tolerant of [[salinity]]. It prefers areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall (750 to 2,000 mm annually), which makes colonizing shorelines of the tropics relatively straightforward. Coconuts also need high [[humidity]] (70–80%+) for optimum growth, which is why they are rarely seen in areas with low humidity, like the [[Mediterranean]], even where temperatures are high enough (regularly above 24°C). They are very hard to establish in dry climates and cannot grow there without frequent irrigation. They may grow but not fruit properly in areas where there is not sufficient warmth, like [[Bermuda]].
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===Pests and diseases===
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[[Image:2005coconut and copra.PNG|thumb|right|Coconut and copra output in 2005]]
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{{Inc|
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[[Image:coconut harvest.jpg|thumb|A man climbing a palm to harvest coconuts. Behind the palm a young plant is visible.|150px]]
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With the increase in the industry in the tropical world, and with the increase in commerce, there have been created conditions favorable to the development and spread of pests. Twenty years ago, serious coconut pests were practically unknown, and only eight years ago, Prudhomme, in an excellent general treatment of the coconut industry, listed as serious pests only two or three insects and no other organisms. There are now known as serious pests various species of Rhynchophorus, known as palm weevils; Oryctes, called the rhinoceros beetle; a scale, Aspidiotus destructor, closely related to the San Jose scale; at least two fungi, and the organisms causing bud-rot. The latter have been determined in the West Indies to be Bacillus Coli, and in India to be a fungus, Pythium palmivorum. Besides these, there are a large number of minor or local pests, including weevils and other beetles, the larvae of moths and butterflies, insects of other groups, and fungi. Damage is also done in places by crustaceans, and by rats and other higher animals. Forests made up of one kind of tree practically do not exist in nature in the tropics; and when such forests are made, as has been done with the coconut, the prevention of devastation by pests will be accomplished only by greater care than is ordinarily demanded to protect the crops of temperate lands.
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{{SCH}}
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Coconut palms are intolerant of freezing weather.  They will show leaf injury below 34&deg;F (1&deg;C), defoliate at 30&deg;F (-1&deg;C) and die at 27&deg;F (-3&deg;C).  There are rare reports of coconut palms surviving (with severe damage) to 20&deg;F (-7&deg;C).  One night of freezing weather can set the growth of a coconut palm back about 6 months.
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==Varieties==
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The [[flower]]s of the coconut palm are [[polygamomonoecious]], with both male and female flowers in the same inflorescence. Flowering occurs continuously, with female flowers producing seeds. Coconut palms are believed to be largely cross-[[pollination|pollinated]], although some dwarf varieties are self-pollinating.
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A very large number of varieties of coconuts is known in different parts of the tropics, but a careful comparative study of their merits has never been made on a large scale and with nuts from many different sources. The best experiment began less than a decade ago in Madagascar. In several localities in the Philippines, there are strains of very large nuts, of which, as a plantation average extending over years, 3,300 produce a ton of copra. In favorable seasons the production has been at the rate of a ton from 2,800 nuts. There are reports of similar large nuts from other countries, but no data as to their yield on a plantation scale. In the parts of the Philippines having the greatest coconut industry, it requires 5,600 to 6,000 nuts to produce a ton of copra, and the same figures apply to Ceylon and various other coconut countries. In still other places the nuts are so small that 7,000 are required to the ton. There are varieties characterized by shape and by color, but these characteristics seem not to be related to the yield either of copra or oil. The nuts of the Laccadive and Maldive Islands are reputed to produce a particularly good fiber. Throughout the eastern tropics, coconuts are locally used to produce liquor. For this purpose, early maturing varieties that are likely also to produce very small nuts, but numerous clusters, are selected. There are varieties in Ceylon and the Philippines which bear at the age of four years, while the varieties in extensive cultivation and used for the production of copra can none of them be relied upon to produce a crop in less than seven years and not in less than ten years unless properly treated. A Philippine variety known as Makapuno has the interior of the nuts completely filled with a soft, sweet tissue, used as a table delicacy.
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{{SCH}}
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===Growing in the United States===
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The only two states in the U.S. where coconut palms can be grown and reproduce outdoors without irrigation are [[Hawaii]] and [[Florida]].  Coconut palms will grow from Bradenton southwards on Florida's west coast and Melbourne southwards on Florida's east coast.  The occasional coconut palm is seen north of these areas in favored microclimates in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area and around Cape Canaveral. They may likewise be grown in favored microclimates on the barrier islands near the Brownsville, Texas area. They may reach fruiting maturity, but are damaged or killed by the occasional winter freezes in these areas.  While coconut palms flourish in south Florida, unusually bitter cold snaps can kill or injure coconut palms there as well. Only the [[Florida Keys]] provide a safe haven from the cold as far as growing coconut palms on the U.S. mainland. 
 
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The farthest north in the United States a coconut palm has been known to grow outdoors is in [[Newport Beach]], [[California]] along the [[Pacific Coast Highway (US)|Pacific Coast Highway]]. In order for coconut palms to survive in [[Southern California]] they need sandy soil and minimal water in the winter to prevent root rot, and would benefit from root heating coils.
 
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[[Image:CoconutMandari.JPG|thumb|left|Coconuts affected by eriophyid mites, at [[Taliparamba]], [[Kannur]], [[Kerala]], [[India]].]]
 
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=== Pests and diseases ===
 
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{{Main|List of coconut palm diseases}}
 
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Coconuts are susceptible to the [[phytoplasma]] disease [[lethal yellowing]]. One recently selected [[cultivar]], [[Maypan coconut palm|'Maypan']], has been bred for resistance to this disease. The fruit may also be damaged by [[eriophyid]] mites. The coconut is also used as a food plant by the [[larva]]e of many [[Lepidoptera]] species, including the following ''[[Batrachedra]] spp'': ''B. arenosella'', ''B. atriloqua'' (feeds exclusively on ''Cocos nucifera''), ''B. mathesoni'' (feeds exclusively on ''Cocos nucifera''), and ''B. nuciferae''.
 
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== The fruit ==
 
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{{nutritionalvalue | name=Coconut, meat, raw| kJ=1481| protein=3.3 g | fat=33.49 g | satfat=29.70 g | monofat=1.43 g | polyfat=0.37 g | carbs=15.23 g | fiber=9.0 g | | sugars=6.23 g | iron_mg=2.43 | calcium_mg=14 | magnesium_mg=32 | phosphorus_mg=113 | potassium_mg=356 | zinc_mg=1.1 | vitC_mg=3.3 | pantothenic_mg=0.300 | vitB6_mg=0.054 | folate_ug=26 | thiamin_mg=0.066 | riboflavin_mg=0.02 | niacin_mg=0.54 | right=1 | source_usda=1 }}
 
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[[Image:Cocos nucifera14.jpg|thumb|left|Maturing Coconuts on the palm]]
 
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[[botany|Botanically]], a coconut is a simple dry [[fruit]] known as a fibrous [[drupe]], instead of a true [[nut (fruit)|nut]]. The husk, or [[mesocarp]], is composed of [[fiber]]s called [[coir]] and there is an inner stone, or [[endocarp]]. This hard endocarp, the outside of the coconut as sold in the shops of non-tropical countries, has three [[germination]] [[stoma|pores]] that are clearly visible on the outside surface once the husk is removed. It is through one of these that the [[radicle]] emerges when the [[embryo]] germinates. Adhering to the inside wall of the endocarp is the ''testa'', with a thick albuminous [[endosperm]] (the coconut "meat"), the white and fleshy edible part of the seed.
 
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Although coconut meat contains less [[fat]] than other dry fruits such as [[peanut]]s and [[almond]]s, it is noted for its high amount of [[saturated fat]]<ref>http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c208C.html</ref>.  Approximately 90% of the fat found in coconut meat is saturated, a proportion exceeding that of foods such as [[lard]], [[butter]], and [[tallow]].  However, there has been some debate as to whether or not the saturated fat in coconuts is healthier than the saturated fat found in other foods (see [[Coconut oil#Effects on health|coconut oil]] for more information). Coconut meat also contains less [[sugar]] and more [[protein]] than other popular fruits such as [[banana]]s, [[apple]]s and [[orange (fruit)|oranges]], and it is relatively high in [[dietary mineral|minerals]] such as [[iron]], [[phosphorus]] and [[zinc]].
 
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The endosperm surrounds a hollow interior space, filled with air and often a liquid referred to as [[coconut water]], not to be confused with [[coconut milk]]. Coconut milk, called "santan" in [[Malaya]], is made by grating the [[endosperm]] and mixing it with (warm) water. The resulting thick, white liquid is used in much Asian cooking, for example, in [[curry|curries]]. Coconut water from the unripe coconut, on the other hand, is drunk fresh as a refreshing drink. Young coconuts used for coconut water are called tender coconuts. The water of a tender coconut is liquid endosperm. It's refreshingly sweet (mild) with airated feel when cut fresh. Depending on the size a tender coconut could contain the liquid in the range of 300 to 1,000 ml. It is known in Tamil/Malayalam/Kannada as "elaneer".
 
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When viewed on end, the endocarp and germination pores gives to the fruit the appearance of a ''coco'' (also Côca), a [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] word for a scary witch from [[Portugal|Portuguese]] folklore, that used to be represented as a carved vegetable lantern, hence the name of the fruit.<ref>Figueiredo, Cândido. Pequeno Dicionário da Lingua Portuguesa. Livraria Bertrand. Lisboa 1940. (in Portuguese)</ref>  The specific name ''nucifera'' is Latin for ''nut-bearing''.
 
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When the coconut is still green, the endosperm inside is thin and tender, often eaten as a snack. But the main reason to pick the nut at this stage is to drink its water; a big nut contains up to one liter. The meat in a young coconut is softer and more like [[gelatin]] than a mature coconut, so much so, that it is sometimes known as coconut jelly. When the nut has ripened and the outer husk has turned brown, a few months later, it will fall from the palm of its own accord. At that time the endosperm has thickened and hardened, while the coconut water has become somewhat bitter.
 
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When the nut is still green the husk is very hard, but green nuts only fall if they have been attacked by moulds, etc. By the time the nut naturally falls, the husk has become brown, the coir has become dryer and softer, and the nut is less likely to cause damage when it drops. Still, there have been instances of coconuts falling from palms and injuring people, and claims of some fatalities. This was the subject of a paper published in 1984 that won the [[Ig Nobel Prize]] in 2001. Falling coconut deaths are often used as a comparison to [[shark]] attacks; the claim is often made that a person is more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than by a shark. However, there is no evidence of people being killed in this manner.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020719.html Are 150 people killed each year by falling coconuts?] The Straight Dope, [[19 July]] 2002. Retrieved [[19 October]] 2006. </ref> However William Wyatt Gill, an early [[London Missionary Society|LMS]] missionary on [[Mangaia]] recorded a story in which Kaiara, the concubine of King Tetui, was killed by a falling green nut. The offending palm was immediately cut down. This was around 1777, the time of [[Captain Cook]]'s visit.
 
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In some parts of the world, trained [[macaque|pig-tailed macaques]] are used to harvest coconuts. Training schools for pig-tailed macaques still exist in southern [[Thailand]] and in the [[Malaysia]]n state of [[Kelantan]]. Competitions are held each year to discover the fastest harvester.
 
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=== Opening a coconut ===
 
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[[Image:GntCoconut.jpg|180px|thumb|right|Sold on a street at [[Guntur]], [[India]]]]
 
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To open a coconut, the softest "eye" should be pierced with a skewer and the water should be drained. Then the coconut should be struck against a hard surface, such as concrete or a kitchen surface. It should break open similarly to an [[egg]], cracking in more than one place. However, quite a lot of force is required. An easier way is to drain the water, then wrap the coconut in a towel and hit it with a [[hammer]]. A way to open a fresh coconut is to take a long, heavy, knife, such as a [[machete]], and score a line across the middle of the coconut by repeatedly striking then rotating. The final stroke should be heavier than the previous to crack the coconut along the scored line. An easier way is to just throw it up in the air and let it land on a hard surface. If done right, it should just crack open enough. To the inexperienced hand, tossing a coconut might end up in a messy affair.
 
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== Uses ==
 
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Nearly all parts of the coconut palm are useful, and the palms have a comparatively high yield, up to 75 fruits per year; it therefore has significant [[economic]] value. The name for the coconut palm in [[Sanskrit]] is ''kalpa vriksha'', which translates as "the tree which provides all the necessities of life". In [[Malay language|Malay]], the coconut is known as ''pokok seribu guna'', "the tree of a thousand uses". In the [[Philippines]], the coconut is commonly given the title "[[Tree of Life]]".
 
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Uses of the various parts of the palm include:
 
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=== Culinary ===
 
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[[image:Green_Coconut_Vendor_in_India_in_Summer.jpg|thumb|Green Coconut Vendor in [[Delhi]], [[India]] in [[Summer]] ]]
 
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[[Image:Coconut drink.jpg|thumb|A relatively young coconut which has been served in a hawker centre in [[Singapore]] with a straw with which to drink its water.|150px]]
 
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* The white, fleshy part of the [[seed]] is edible and used fresh or dried in cooking.
 
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* The cavity is filled with [[coconut water]] which contains [[sugar]], [[dietary fiber|fibre]], [[protein]]s, [[antioxidant]]s, [[vitamin]]s and [[mineral]]s.  Coconut water provides an [[isotonic]] [[electrolyte]] balance, and is a highly nutritious food source.  It is used as a refreshing drink throughout the humid tropics. It can also be used to make the gelatinous dessert [[nata de coco]]. Mature fruits have significantly less liquid than young immature coconuts; barring spoilage, coconut water is sterile until opened.
 
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* [[Bud sport|Sport fruit]]s are also harvested, primarily in the Philippines, where they are known as ''macapuno''.
 
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* [[Coconut milk]] is made by processing grated coconut with hot water or milk, which extracts the oil and aromatic compounds.  It should not be confused with the coconut water discussed above, and has a fat content of approximately 17%.  When refrigerated and left to set, [[coconut cream]] will rise to the top and separate out the milk.
 
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* The leftover fibre from coconut milk production is used as livestock feed.
 
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* The [[sap]] derived from incising the flower clusters of the coconut is fermented to produce [[palm wine]], also known as "toddy" or, in the Philippines, ''tuba''. The sap can also be reduced by boiling to create a sweet syrup or candy.
 
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* [[Apical meristem|Apical buds]] of adult plants are edible and are known as "palm-cabbage" (though harvest of these kills the palm).
 
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* [[Coconut nectar|Ruku Raa]] is an extract from the young bud, a very rare type of nectar collected and used as morning break drink in the islands of [[Maldives]] reputed for its energetic power keeping the "raamen"(nectar collector) healthy and fit even over 80 and 90 years old. And by-products are sweet honey-like syrup and creamy sugar for desserts.
 
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* The interior of the growing tip may be harvested as [[heart-of-palm]] and is considered a rare delicacy. Harvesting this also kills the tree. Hearts of palm are often eaten in salads, sometimes called "millionaire's salad".
 
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* Newly germinated coconuts contain an edible fluff of [[marshmallow]]-like consistency called coconut sprout, produced as the endosperm nourishes the developing embryo.
 
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=== Non-culinary ===
 
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[[Image:srilanka coconut fibre.jpg|thumb|Extracting the fibre from the husk (Sri Lanka)]]
 
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* Coconut water can be used as an intravenous fluid (see [[PMID]] [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=link&db=pubmed&dbFrom=pubmed&from_uid=10674546 10674546]).
 
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* The water is also used in isotonic sports drinks.
 
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* [[Coir]] (the fibre from the husk of the coconut) is used in ropes, mats, brushes, caulking boats and as stuffing fibre; it is also used extensively in [[horticulture]] for making potting compost.
 
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* [[Copra]] is the dried meat of the seed and is the main source of [[coconut oil]].
 
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* The leaves provide materials for baskets and roofing thatch.
 
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* [[Palmwood]] comes from the trunk and is increasingly being used as an ecologically-sound substitute for endangered hardwoods. It has several applications, particularly in [[furniture]] and specialized construction (notably in [[Manila]]'s [[Coconut Palace]]).
 
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* Hawaiians hollowed the trunk to form drums, containers, or even small canoes.
 
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* The husk and shells can be used for fuel and are a good source of [[charcoal]].
 
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* Dried half coconut shells with husks are used to buff floors. In the Philippines, it is known as "bunot".
 
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* Shirt buttons can be carved out of dried coconut shell. Coconut buttons are often used for Hawaiian [[Aloha shirt]]s.
 
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* The stiff leaflet midribs can be used to make cooking skewers, kindling arrows, or are bound into bundles, brooms and brushes.
 
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* The [[root]]s are used as a [[dye]], a mouthwash, and a medicine for [[dysentery]]. A frayed-out piece of root can also be used as a [[toothbrush]].
 
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* Half coconut shells are used in [[theatre]], banged together to create the sound effect of a [[horse]]'s hoofbeats. They were used in this way in the [[Monty Python]] film [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]].
 
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[[Image:Srilanka coconut rug.jpg|thumb|Making a rug from coconut fibre.]]
 
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* The leaves can be woven to create effective roofing materials, or [[reed mat]]s.
 
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* Half coconut shells may be deployed as an improvised bra, especially for comedic effect or theatrical purposes. They were used in this way in the [[1970]]s UK [[sitcom]] [[It Ain't Half Hot Mum]] for example.
 
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* In [[fairground]]s, a "[[coconut shy]]" is a popular target practice game, and coconuts are commonly given as prizes.
 
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* A coconut can be hollowed out and used as a home for a rodent or small bird. Halved, drained coconuts can also be hung up as bird feeders, and after the flesh has gone, can be filled with fat in winter to attract [[Titmouse|Titmice]].
 
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* A 1.5" hole can be made in a coconut and a banana placed inside. Secured to a tree, it makes a monkey trap.
 
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* Fresh inner coconut husk can be rubbed on the lens of snorkelling goggles to prevent fogging during use.
 
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* Dried coconut leaves can be burned to ash, which can be harvested for [[lime]].
 
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* Dried half coconut shells are used as the bodies of musical instruments, including the Chinese [[yehu]] and [[banhu]], and the Vietnamese [[đàn gáo]].
 
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* Coconut is also commonly used as a herbal remedy in [[Pakistan]] to treat bites from rats.
 
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* The "branches" (leaf petioles) are strong and flexible enough to make a [[switch (rod)|switch]].  The use of coconut branches in corporal punishment was revived in the Gilbertese community on Choiseul in the [[Solomon Islands]] in 2005.<ref>[http://www.corpun.com/sbj00603.htm Corporal punishment on the Solomon Islands]</ref>
 
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* Coconut [[seedlings]] are popular novelty [[houseplants]].
 
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* In [[World War II]], [[Coastwatchers|coastwatcher]] scout [[Biuki Gasa]] was the first of two from the [[Solomon Islands]] to reach the shipwrecked, wounded, and exhausted crew of [[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109]] commanded by future U.S. president [[John F. Kennedy]]. Gasa suggested, for lack of paper, delivering by dugout canoe a message inscribed on a husked coconut shell. This coconut was later kept on the president's desk, and is now in the [[John F. Kennedy Library]].
 
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* Coconut trunks are used for building small bridges, preferred for their straightness, strength and salt resistance
 
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== Cultural aspects ==
 
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{{Unreferenced|date=August 2007}}
 
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[[Image:Coconut-youngpalm.JPG|right|thumb|A young coconut palm]]
 
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Coconuts are extensively used in [[Hindu]] religious rites. Coconuts are usually offered to the gods, and a coconut is smashed on the ground or on some object as part of an initiation or inauguration of building projects, facility, ship, etc.; this act signifies a sacrifice of ego, the idea that wealth stems from divinity, and the idea that, if due credit is not given, bad karma is taken on. In Hindu mythology it is referred as '''Kalpavruksha'''. In Hindu mythologies it is said that Kalapavruksha gives what is asked for.
 
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* The [[Indonesia]]n tale of [[Hainuwele]] tells a story of the introduction of coconuts to [[Seram]].
 
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* The people of the state of [[Kerala]] in southern India consider Kerala to be the "Land of Coconuts"; ''nalikerathinte naadu'' in the native language.
 
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* In [[Vietnam]], the southern province of [[Ben Tre Province|Ben Tre]] is referred to as the "land of coconuts."
 
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* The word "coconut" is also used as a mild [[derogatory]] slang word referring to a person of [[Latino]], [[Filipino people|Filipino]], or [[India]]n subcontinent descent who emulates a [[white person]] (brown on the outside, white on the inside).
 
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* "Coconut" is New Zealand slang for a Tongan, or other person of "Polynesian" descent, although usually not Maori.
 
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* "[[Coconut (song)|Coconut]]" is also the title of a song by [[Harry Nilsson]].
 
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* "Coconut" is also the title of an In Reverie b-side track by [[Saves the Day]].
 
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* "Coconut" is also used as a slang term for [[breast]]s.
 
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* [[Kid Creole]]'s backing singers were known as his Coconuts.
 
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* [[Cocolo]] originated as a term for a coconut seller.
 
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* [[kurumba]] used as a term for coconut (Maldives).
 
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==See also==
 
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*[[Coconut cream]]
 
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*[[Coconut milk]]
 
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*[[Coconut oil]]
 
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*[[Coconut water]]
 
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*[[Maypan coconut palm]]
 
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== References ==
 
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<div class="references-small">
 
  
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{{reflist}}
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==Gallery==
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<gallery>
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Image:coconut harvest.jpg|A man climbing a palm to harvest coconuts. Behind the palm a young plant is visible.
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Image:CoconutMandari.JPG|Coconuts affected by eriophyid mites, at [[Taliparamba]], [[Kannur]], [[Kerala]], [[India]].
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Image:Cocos nucifera14.jpg|thumb|left|Maturing Coconuts on the palm
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Image:GntCoconut.jpg|Sold on a street at [[Guntur]], [[India]]
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image:Green_Coconut_Vendor_in_India_in_Summer.jpg|Green Coconut Vendor in [[Delhi]], [[India]] in [[Summer]]
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Image:Coconut drink.jpg|A relatively young coconut which has been served in a hawker centre in [[Singapore]] with a straw with which to drink its water.
 +
Image:Srilanka coconut rug.jpg|Making a rug from coconut fibre
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</gallery>
  
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</div>
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==References==
 +
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
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<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->
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<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->
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<!--- xxxxx  *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608  -->
  
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== External links ==
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==External links==
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* [http://www.top100plants.com/?p=8 Top100Plants: ''Coconut Palm'']
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*{{wplink}}
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* [http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/ Coconut Research Center]
 
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* [http://www.cri.lk/ Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka]
 
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* [http://www.kokonutpacific.com.au Kokonut Pacific]  Developers of Direct Micro Expelling (DME) technology that enables Islanders to produce pure cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
 
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* [http://cocos.arecaceae.com/ Coconut Time Line]
 
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* [http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/coconut_landing.html Plant Cultures: botany, history and uses of the coconut]
 
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* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Cocos_nucifera.html Purdue University crop pages: ''Cocos nucifera'']
 
  
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{{Commons|Cocos nucifera}}
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[[Category:Categorize]]
  
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[[Category:Palms]]
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[[Category:Coconut| ]]
 
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[[Category:Tropical agriculture]]
 
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[[Category:Flora of India]]
 
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[[Category:Flora of the Maldives]]
 

Latest revision as of 00:14, 28 July 2009


A coconut palm


Plant Characteristics
Lifespan: ⌛ perennial
Origin: ✈ ?
Cultivation
Exposure: ☼ ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water: ◍ ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.
Features: ✓ tropical effect"Tropical effect" is not in the list (evergreen, deciduous, flowers, fragrance, edible, fruit, naturalizes, invasive, foliage, birds, ...) of allowed values for the "Features" property., fruit
Scientific Names

Arecaceae >

Cocos >

nucifera >



Read about Coconut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 
Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera)

The coconut, Cocos nucifera, is the most important of cultivated palms. Its nearest relatives, whether or not regarded as in the same genus, are natives of tropical America. For this and for other reasons which have been presented by Cook, it must be believed that the coconut is a native of America, and that it was carried westward across the Pacific in prehistoric times. While the nut will float and retain its power of germination for a considerable time, its propagation from island to island in known cases has practically always been the deliberate work of men, and it is probable that men were also responsible for its crossing the Pacific. It was a cultivated plant in Polynesia and Malaya, and in many places the chief crop, at the time of the discovery of this part of the world by Europeans. But it reached Ceylon recently enough so that its introduction is a matter of fairly reliable legend. It is now grown in all tropical countries except the interior of continents. Its cultivation extends somewhat beyond the tropics, both north and south, but its growth at these extremes, in Florida, India and Madagascar, is not thrifty enough to give it any industrial importance. Within the last two decades, the rise in the price of oils and the discovery of new uses for coconut-oil have caused a tremendous increase in the area devoted to the plantation and cultivation of coconuts. CH

Cocos nucifera, Linn. Coco Palm. Coconut Tree. Caudex 40-100 ft. high, flexuous, thickened at the base: Lvs. 12-18 ft. long; Ifts. linear-lanceolate, 2-3 ft., coriaceous, flaccid: petiole 3-5 ft., stout. Seashores within the tropics and at Miami and Palm Beach, Fla. Indigenous to Cocos or Keeling Isls. of the Indian Ocean, but recently thought to be native of Trop. Amer.— Produces the coconuts of commerce. Var. aurea, Hort., is a form remarkable for its orange-yellow sheaths, petioles and midribs." It is known in cult, only in England. CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Cultivation


Read about Coconut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

In the first years after the coconuts are transplanted, it is good policy to raise catch-crops between the trees. But these crops should be so chosen that they will not compete with the coconut for light or water; and from the profit they pay, a return should be made to the soil of fertilizers at least sufficient to replace what they have removed. By the time the grove is four years old, the coconuts will shade the ground and it will no longer be possible to raise catch-crops on a large scale. Then, but not before this time, it is good practice to use the grove for pasture. The returns from live-stock should be at least sufficient to pay for keeping the plantation in good condition and cattle will themselves do a large part of the work in keeping down the other vegetation. Pasturing of other live-stock in coconut groves is in general not to be recommended. It is not customary anywhere in the tropics to give to coconut plantations such cultivation as is given to orchards in temperate countries. It has ever been believed that any but the most shallow cultivation would be detrimental by destroying the roots near the surface, and that machine-cultivation was likely to be top expensive to be profitable, in view of the time that it would have to be kept up before the coconut begins to pay returns. Limited experience in the Philippines indicates that real cultivation produces very much the same results with coconuts as it does with other crops. Coconuts respond, as do other crops, to the application of manures containing potash, nitrogen, and phosphorus. So far as the very limited evidence shows, the demand for these three fertilizing elements is in the order given. With ordinarily good treatment, coconuts come into bearing in seven or eight years. Single trees of standard varieties will bear fruit in five years, while others will require ten. If the coconut is treated as a wild crop, which is by no means uncommon, and little or no attention is given it after the first three years, it will be ten or fifteen years, as a rule, before a full crop is produced and even then the crop will be an inferior one.

The coconut makes on the climate the characteristic demands of a typically tropical plant. It thrives where the mean annual temperature is 72° F. or higher, and where there are no great differences in temperature between seasons. Except where supply of ground water makes it independent of local rainfall, the coconut demands an annual rainfall of at least one meter (about 40 in.); and this precipitation should be well distributed through the year. In most of the best coconut countries, the rainfall is considerably more than one meter. The coconut can endure exceedingly drying conditions for short periods, and is accordingly adapted to the intense light of the seashore, to resisting strong winds, and to enduring salt water about its roots for short periods of time. Moreover, it will live through prolonged droughts. But long dry seasons cut down the crops; and the damage done by droughts lasts for as much as two or three years after the return of rain. A dry season of five or six months every other year will keep the crop at all times down to not more than 40 per cent of what it would be if the supply of water were constant. If there is an ample supply of soil-water, dryness of the atmosphere is favorable to the best production. Seacoasts usually have higher land back of them, and the ground-water from the higher country circulates through the soil toward the sea. Near the shore it comes near enough to the surface to be reached by the roots of the coconut. For this reason, coconuts thrive on the seashore under climatic conditions that prevent good development in the interior. This is the principal ground for the idea that coconuts thrive only near the sea. Around the bases of volcanoes in the interior, similar soil conditions are met with, and such localities are admirably adapted to this crop. CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Propagation


Read about Coconut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

The coconut is produced only by seed. Nuts for this purpose should of course be selected from conspicuously good trees. They are usually planted in seed-beds, although, on a small scale, there are various other local methods of handling them during germination. The best treatment is to take them from the seed-bed when the plumule is not more than 6 inches high, which will usually be after about six months. To avoid the expense of keeping the groves clean while the trees are small, it is common practice to leave the nuts for a longer time in the seed-beds, but the transplanting of older seedlings, even with the greatest practicable care, sets them back for several months. In the Jaffna district of northern Ceylon, the nuts are transplanted from the first seed-beds to others in which they have more room, and are not put in their permanent places until they are three or four years old. CH


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Pests and diseases


Read about Coconut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

With the increase in the industry in the tropical world, and with the increase in commerce, there have been created conditions favorable to the development and spread of pests. Twenty years ago, serious coconut pests were practically unknown, and only eight years ago, Prudhomme, in an excellent general treatment of the coconut industry, listed as serious pests only two or three insects and no other organisms. There are now known as serious pests various species of Rhynchophorus, known as palm weevils; Oryctes, called the rhinoceros beetle; a scale, Aspidiotus destructor, closely related to the San Jose scale; at least two fungi, and the organisms causing bud-rot. The latter have been determined in the West Indies to be Bacillus Coli, and in India to be a fungus, Pythium palmivorum. Besides these, there are a large number of minor or local pests, including weevils and other beetles, the larvae of moths and butterflies, insects of other groups, and fungi. Damage is also done in places by crustaceans, and by rats and other higher animals. Forests made up of one kind of tree practically do not exist in nature in the tropics; and when such forests are made, as has been done with the coconut, the prevention of devastation by pests will be accomplished only by greater care than is ordinarily demanded to protect the crops of temperate lands. CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Varieties


Read about Coconut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

A very large number of varieties of coconuts is known in different parts of the tropics, but a careful comparative study of their merits has never been made on a large scale and with nuts from many different sources. The best experiment began less than a decade ago in Madagascar. In several localities in the Philippines, there are strains of very large nuts, of which, as a plantation average extending over years, 3,300 produce a ton of copra. In favorable seasons the production has been at the rate of a ton from 2,800 nuts. There are reports of similar large nuts from other countries, but no data as to their yield on a plantation scale. In the parts of the Philippines having the greatest coconut industry, it requires 5,600 to 6,000 nuts to produce a ton of copra, and the same figures apply to Ceylon and various other coconut countries. In still other places the nuts are so small that 7,000 are required to the ton. There are varieties characterized by shape and by color, but these characteristics seem not to be related to the yield either of copra or oil. The nuts of the Laccadive and Maldive Islands are reputed to produce a particularly good fiber. Throughout the eastern tropics, coconuts are locally used to produce liquor. For this purpose, early maturing varieties that are likely also to produce very small nuts, but numerous clusters, are selected. There are varieties in Ceylon and the Philippines which bear at the age of four years, while the varieties in extensive cultivation and used for the production of copra can none of them be relied upon to produce a crop in less than seven years and not in less than ten years unless properly treated. A Philippine variety known as Makapuno has the interior of the nuts completely filled with a soft, sweet tissue, used as a table delicacy. CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Gallery

  • A man climbing a palm to harvest coconuts. Behind the palm a young plant is visible.

  • Coconuts affected by eriophyid mites, at Taliparamba, Kannur, Kerala, India.

  • Maturing Coconuts on the palm

  • Sold on a street at Guntur, India

  • Green Coconut Vendor in Delhi, India in Summer

  • A relatively young coconut which has been served in a hawker centre in Singapore with a straw with which to drink its water.

  • Making a rug from coconut fibre

References

External links


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