50
Cocos
nucifera L.
Synonym : Calappa nucifera (L.) Kuntze.
Family
: Arecaceae
Local Names
: Thengu, Shubaga, Coconut
tree
Flowering
and fruiting period:
Throughout the year
Distribution: Cultivated
throughout the tropics
Habitat: Cultivated
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Nut edible, oil
yielding, firewood, house making, remedy for urinary disorders .
Key
Characters:
Coconut trees are erect trees with annular petiolar scars. Leaves pinnatisect, 4-6 m long. Spadices interfoliar, panicled. Spathe oblong, woody. Flowers monoecious. Male flowers: often paired. Sepals ovate.
Petals ovate, woody, yellowish-brown.
Stamens 6; pistillode short, 3-fid.
Female flowers, basal, globose.
Perianth-lobes 6; woody; outer lobes broadly obovate. Ovary 3-celled; ovule 1 per cell; style
short. Drupe ovoid or globose,
trigonous; pericarp fibrous; endocarp stony.
Seed coherent with the endocarp.
