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.