Fun facts about coconuts!
The other night, Abram and I ate a coconut, Agnes. We started talking about coconuts, and revealed our ignorance. I swore that I would soon be able to tell him more than he ever wanted to know about those tempting tropical treats! So, in the spirit of that oath:
The Coconut!
* The coconut palm, which produces the fruit, has the scientific name Cocos nucifera (which means something like "nut-bearing cocoa", natch). It can grow up to approx. 80 ft. (25 m) in height.
* The familiar coconut is, as it name suggests, the nut of the plant. It is surrounded by a further 2-5 cm husk of fibrous material and then a hard shell; all of this is removed long before it hits market. The "meat" of the coconut is literally the kernel of the seed; when alive it is true cellular plant-flesh, the endosperm which will grow into the adult palm tree by cracking through its shell.
* The milk at the core of the seed provides water and nutrients for the growing plant.
* The short fibers of the husk are called coir, and are used in many Pacific societies to make ropes and brooms.
* Dried coconut meat that has been left solid is called copra. Copra, when processed, is used to make coconut oil.
* It takes a palm about five or six years after birth to begin bearing coconuts, which themselves take about a year to ripen. Once they begin producing, an average palm will produce about 50 coconuts per year.
* "Palm cabbage" consists of new buds from the very top of the palm tree and is eaten as a salad vegetable by many Pacific societies. The longer, older fronds of the plant are used for thatching and basket-weaving.
* The wood of the tree is decay-resistant. When used for furniture-making it is called "porcupine wood". (And so a "Porcupine Tree" would be a coconut palm, for all youse music fans out there)
Sources:
Encyclopaedia Britannica 2003 edition
A Trip to Indonesia (2001). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
--mark
The Coconut!
* The coconut palm, which produces the fruit, has the scientific name Cocos nucifera (which means something like "nut-bearing cocoa", natch). It can grow up to approx. 80 ft. (25 m) in height.
* The familiar coconut is, as it name suggests, the nut of the plant. It is surrounded by a further 2-5 cm husk of fibrous material and then a hard shell; all of this is removed long before it hits market. The "meat" of the coconut is literally the kernel of the seed; when alive it is true cellular plant-flesh, the endosperm which will grow into the adult palm tree by cracking through its shell.
* The milk at the core of the seed provides water and nutrients for the growing plant.
* The short fibers of the husk are called coir, and are used in many Pacific societies to make ropes and brooms.
* Dried coconut meat that has been left solid is called copra. Copra, when processed, is used to make coconut oil.
* It takes a palm about five or six years after birth to begin bearing coconuts, which themselves take about a year to ripen. Once they begin producing, an average palm will produce about 50 coconuts per year.
* "Palm cabbage" consists of new buds from the very top of the palm tree and is eaten as a salad vegetable by many Pacific societies. The longer, older fronds of the plant are used for thatching and basket-weaving.
* The wood of the tree is decay-resistant. When used for furniture-making it is called "porcupine wood". (And so a "Porcupine Tree" would be a coconut palm, for all youse music fans out there)
Sources:
Encyclopaedia Britannica 2003 edition
A Trip to Indonesia (2001). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
--mark