What does a coconut palm look like? Latest description of the morphological characteristics of the coconut palm
The coconut palm is a large plant of the genus Cocos in the palm family Arecaceae, an important tropical woody oil crop. The famous tropical fruit coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm, and its wide distribution is related to the fact that the coconut fruit can drift thousands of kilometers in the sea with the wind and waves and then reproduce far from the mother tree. In China, more than two thousand years ago, the Records of the Grand Historian already recorded the coconut. It has extremely high economic value, and every part of the whole plant has its uses.
The trunk of the coconut palm is straight, 15-30 m tall, with a single crown and a neat shape. The leaves are pinnately parted, 4-6 m long, with numerous leaflets, leathery, linear-lanceolate, 65-100 cm long and 3-4 cm wide, with acuminate tips. The petiole is thick and sturdy, more than 1 m long. The spadix is axillary, 1.5-2 m long, and much branched. The nut is obovoid or nearly spherical, slightly three-angled at the apex, 15-25 cm long, with a bony endocarp, 3 germination pores near the base, and 1 seed.
The coconut palm usually begins to bear fruit after 5-6 years, reaches its full bearing period at 15-18 years, with 40-80 fruits per plant, and more than 100 in some cases, and an economic life of more than 80 years. The number of leaves produced each year varies with tree age; before the full bearing period it tends to increase with tree age, and after the full bearing period it decreases slightly but can still remain constant. The number of spathes put out in a year is greatest from May to June and lowest from November to December. After the spathe is put out, it takes 3.5 months for the inflorescence to emerge, and flowering is most abundant from July to September; from fertilization to fruit maturity takes 12 months.
The coconut palm is native to southeastern Asia, from Indonesia to the Pacific Islands, and is cultivated in the tropical areas of the southern islands of Guangdong, the Leizhou Peninsula, Hainan, Taiwan, China and southern Yunnan in China. The main varieties are green coconut, yellow coconut and red coconut. Through long-term natural selection and artificial selection, many types and varieties have been formed. At present, from the perspective of cultivated varieties, it is often analyzed and identified as having wild species and cultivated species, and the cultivated varieties can be further divided into tall types, dwarf types and hybrids.
The coconut palm is most suitable in coastal areas below 50 m above sea level with an annual average temperature of 26-27°C, a small annual temperature difference, an annual rainfall of 1300-2300 mm with even distribution, and more than 2000 hours of annual sunlight. It is a light-loving tropical crop and grows and develops well under conditions of high temperature, abundant rain, sufficient sunlight and sea breezes. It is suitable for growing in low-altitude areas. The most suitable soils for its growth are marine alluvial soil and riverbank alluvial soil, followed by sandy loam, then gravelly soil, with clay being the worst.
There are more than 360 kinds of comprehensive utilization products of the coconut palm, which can produce different products and are fully used in different industries. It is a unique renewable, green and environmentally friendly resource in tropical regions. Coconut meat can be pressed for oil, eaten raw, or used as a vegetable, and can also be made into coconut milk, desiccated coconut, shredded coconut, canned coconut jam, coconut candy and biscuits. Coconut water can be used as a refreshing drink. Coconut fiber can be made into brushes, carpets, cables and ropes, etc. Coconut shells can be made into various handicrafts and high-grade activated carbon. The trunk can be used as building material, and the leaves can be used to thatch roofs or woven. The coconut palm is an excellent tree species for greening and beautifying the environment in tropical regions, and coconut roots can be used as medicine.