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Coconut trees are an invasive, climax species, however, and once established on an island they start to take over. Dispersal is by water. The tree grows outward as well as upward, so the nuts will fall away from the trunk.
The coconut (Cocos nucifera) grows on the coconut tree, which is common in tropical areas throughout the world. The native origin of the palm is uncertain, as the nuts were easily dispersed between both islands and continents by ocean currents and by early explorers.
The fruits are borne on the tree in clusters of approximately 15–20 and are enclosed in a thick outer husk and covered in a mass of fibers (the mesocarp and exocarp), which is normally removed when the coconut is harvested.
The familiar hard shell of the coconut is the endocarp, or inner layer, of the mature ovary of the fruit, and within the shell is the actual seed, covered with a thin brown seed coat.
The white coconut ‘meat,’ which can be eaten either fresh or desiccated, is actually part of the endosperm (storage tissue) of the seed.
Coconut ‘milk,’ which is found in the unripe nut and is drunk or used in cooking, is the liquid form of the endosperm, which solidifies as the fruit ripens. The coconut meat may be dried to produce copra, which is pressed to remove the coconut oil used widely as food oil and in soap and cosmetic manufacture.
If the tree is on the beach, some of the nuts will be washed out to sea where they may be carried long distances, to land on a distant shore. High tides and winds will push the nut above the high water where, as soon as it soaks up some rain, it will germinate.
The tree grows quickly, shading out nearby trees and dropping its gigantic leaves (each frond is a single leaf) to cover the ground beneath it. If the tree is growing towards the forest, its leaves will smother the seedlings of other plants, or prevent their seeds from reaching the ground to germinate.
The coconut, having a huge seed with plenty of stored food, can grow up through this tangled mat of leaf-fall, out-competing all others. In this way the coconut will gradually invade and choke out the native littoral forest.
Benefit of Coconut
What Makes Our Hybrid Coconut Tree the Best?
