Coconut palms — nature knows how to provide

Coconut palms are probably the most iconic and well-known palm in the world. Images of tropical beaches around the equator include coconut palms in the sand overlooking tranquil oceans of crystal-clear aqua-blue water. Not only do coconut palms look great, but this palm is one of the most used and most useful plants in the world.
 

The list of ways to use a coconut palm is impressive and substantial, from medicine to automobile fuel. If I were stranded on a tropical island with only one plant, I would want it to be a coconut palm, as long as I had a way to climb it!

Books have been written, such as “Coconut: A Global History” by Constance L. Kirker and Mary Newman, and videos have been made about the incredible virtues of coconuts. The documentary "The Coconut Revolution" is very fascinating and explores the indigenous peoples of Bougainville Island during the Bougainville Civil War. The movement is described as the "world's first successful eco-revolution.”

Botanists do not classify palms as true trees because they lack the traditional woody growth rings found in most trees. Coconut palms are the only living species in the genus Cocos. They are monocotyledons, flowering plants with an embryo containing a single seed leaf. Modern DNA research shows that monocots are a specialized, more recent branch that emerged from deep within early flowering plant lineages. 

Monocots are characterized by having leaves with veins that run parallel to each other. The flower’s parts form in groups of three, like the petals. Stems of monocots have internal transport tubes (vascular bundles) that are randomly scattered throughout the stem.

Monocots include grasses, bamboo, bananas, and palms, in addition to major food crops like corn, barley, wheat, rice and sugarcane. Garden plants and flowers such as lilies, tulips, onions, garlic and orchids are also examples. Coconut palms are more closely related to grass than to an oak tree.

Coconuts are not for the faint of heart, as they are very hard to get into. Are you good with a machete? Falling coconuts can actually severely injure or kill a person walking under a coconut palm at the wrong moment. It is estimated that as many as 150 people a year worldwide die from falling coconuts. Always use caution walking around coconut palms loaded with mature fruit.

On the flip side they bring us such pleasure. Drinking coconut water from a freshly opened, chilled coconut with a paper straw is divine. There's coconut curry, coconut cream pie, macaroons and coconut ice cream. I currently use coconut oil, coconut flour, and coconut sugar frequently for cooking and baking now that they are readily available. 

Traditionally, the husks have been used to make rope, which helped ocean explorers build and outfit their boats. The husks and coconut shells can be used for fire and charcoal for cooking. Perfect for a tropical camp out!

Explorers like Vasco de Gama from Portugal carried coconuts around the world. The Portuguese are credited with naming the coconut after the word “coco” meaning "skull," or a mythical bogeyman used to frighten children. Each coconut end has three dots that resemble a face.

The Portuguese were not the first ocean voyagers who used coconuts to stock their ocean voyages. The Austronesians are credited with colonizing the South Pacific islands and bringing the coconut with them. There is much research and interest in tracking the movement of the coconut and its history with people over time and across the tropics. 

The true origin of the coconut is likely the coastal tropics of the Indo-Pacific, specifically the Philippines and the Indian Ocean Basin. Genetic and botanical studies have found that the single species of (Cocos nucifera) is divided into the Indo-Atlantic group and the Pacific group. 

Coconuts are carried around the globe by currents and by people. Coconuts float. They are uniquely designed to ride the currents long distances, and the seed is perfectly adapted to sprout on a distant beach, needing no soil to germinate and take hold. Most coconut palms grow and thrive in a belt between 22 and 25 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. They prefer temperatures between 70 and 95 degrees and lots of rainwater.

Unfortunately, where we live in Northeast Florida, the temperatures get too cold for coconut palms to grow and survive. A plant called the high plateau coconut palm is sold in our local nurseries; this look-alike from Madagascar is more cold-tolerant but does not produce fruit. 

The fruit of a coconut palm has so much to offer us. I hope you enjoy something wonderfully coconut today or in the near future!