CocosNucifera01

Note: These plants can be dangerous if improperly used. The author, and/or ernestartist.org assume no liability for experimentation of use.

Ernestartist.org assumes no liability for experimental use of medicinal plants, food plants or herbal remedies.

The name Cocos probably derives from a Portuguese word meaning monkey, perhaps because its nut, bearing three germinating pores, resembles a monkey face. Its specific name derives from Latin, meaning nut-bearing (from fero = I bear and nux-nucis = nut).

The coconut palm is a long-lived plant that may live as long as 100 years; it has a single trunk, 20-30 m tall, its bark is smooth and gray, marked by ringed scars left by fallen leaf bases.

More importantly, it's used in the manufacture of such diverse products as soap, lubricants, explosives and margarine. The thick outer husk is a source of a tough fiber called coir used to make doormats and brushes. The leaves are used in some areas for roofing thatch and basket weaving. Most of us in the U.S. are familiar with the coconut palm from resorts in Florida and the Caribbean. Since falling coconuts can pose a serious (sometimes fatal!) health hazard to guests, they are sometimes removed by resort managers hoping to avoid lawsuits.

Its fruit, as big as a man’s head and 1-2 kg in weight, is a drupe with a thin, smooth, grey-brown epicarp, a fibrous, 4-8 cm thick, mesocarp and a woody endocarp; as it is rather light, it can be carried long distances by water while keeping its germinability for a long time.

Inside it contains one seed, rich in reserve substances located in the endosperm which is partly liquid (coconut milk), partly solid (flesh).

When its embryo germinates, its radical breaks through one of the three germinating pores, visible from the outside as well.

The coconut palm is perhaps the widest-grown palm in the world, coconuts feature as one of the main sources of income for producing countries, in that a large number of different products utilized and appreciated in the western countries as well are made out of them.

However, other parts of this plant are used too, notably its leaves to make baskets, roofing thatch etc., apical buds of adult plants are an excellent palm-cabbage, an alcoholic drink known as Toddy or palm wine is extracted from its sugar sap, tapped from the inflorescence by means of apposite cuttings.

Coconuts are used as whole fruits or, conversely, by their parts: mesocarp fibers, milk, kernel (or flesh), husk.

As a "functional food," coconut oil is now being recognized by the medical community as a powerful tool against immune diseases. Several studies have been done on its effectiveness, and much research is currently being done on the incredible nutritional value of pure coconut oil. Please browse the links page to read about these studies. To add pure virgin coconut oil to your diet, you can purchase the Tropical Traditions brand made in the Philippines.

While visiting the beaches along the West coast of Mexico, the flies and mosquitos in the first part of the evening (at sunset and there after), was to the point of being intolerable. The answer to this problem is found in the dried husk or coir of the coconut's outer shell. Natives in the area gather the coir and lit a small fire using the coir as fuel. The individual husks were taken out of the fire and placed at intervals surrounding the natives during the evening activities.

Doris and I tried this, placing the coir around us at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. The smoke from the now-smoldering coir bathed the area we sat in. From that moment, and as long as we kept replacing the coir in their locations surrounding us, we were not bothered by any mosquitos or flies at all. No kidding, I went from long pants and long sleeved shirt, to shorts and a T-shirt... and wasn't bothered by any bugs at all.