[A Double coconut palm tree]
Learning About A Double
Coconut Palm Tree

DOUBLE COCONUT PALM TREE
BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION

KINGDOM 	Plant
FAMILY 	Arecaceae
Palmae
CLASS 	Liliopsida
ORDER 	Arecales
GENUS 	Lodoicea
SPECIES 	maldivica
Common Name 	Double coconut
coco-de-mer
sea coconut

LEARN ABOUT THE
DOUBLE COCONUT PALM TREE

    * PALM is the common name for members of
      the Palmae, a large family of chiefly tropical
      trees, shrubs, and vines.
    * Most species are treelike, characterized by
      a crown of compound leaves, called fronds,
      terminating a tall, woody, unbranched stem.
    * The fruits that are covered with a tough
      fleshy, fibrous, or leathery outer layer,
      usually contain a large amount of endosperm
      in the seed (stored food).
    * The palms are of limited use in the United
      States but their economic importance in the
      tropical regions can exceed that of the grasses.

    * The Double coconut palm tree
      grows only on a very small island named Praslin,
      located in the Seychelles Archipielago, in the
      Indian Ocean.
    * The world's largest and heaviest seed
      comes from the coco-de-mer palm. A single seed
      may be 12 inches long, nearly three feet in
      circumference and weigh 40 pounds.
    * The largest seed in the plant kingdom looks
      like two coconuts fused together, giving rise to
      this fan palm's common name.

      From: Botanical Record-Breakers

    * The plant is tender and very slow-growing,
      especially when young. The nut takes a year to
      germinate and another year to form its first leaf
      hence, it is rarely cultivated.
    * This palm can attain heights of 100 feet and
      leaf blades to 20 feet in length and 12 feet
      in diameter.
    * For centuries its nuts were mistakenly thought
      to come from the Maldive Islands, an error
      preserved in its Latin name.
    * Even though commonly called a "double coconut",
      it is not a coconut but grows on a fan-leaf palm
      with the two sexes on different trees.
    * The "female" trees do not bear until they are
      more than 100 years old.
    * The annual production is limited to a few
      thousand nuts.

TO PROTECT THE
DOUBLE COCONUT PALM TREE

    * The Vallée de Mai which is one of the few
      remaining areas where coco-de-mer forest occurs,
      was declared a Natural World Heritage Site
      - Criteria i, ii, iii, iv.
    * It is located in the centre of Praslin
      National Park on Praslin Island, 50km north-east
      of Mahé in the Seychelles. 4°19'S, 55°44'E.
    * The reserve itself is a strictly protected zone
      within Praslin National Park.
    * It is completely surrounded by the national
      park, a multiple use management area mainly
      devoted to the conservation of endemic forest,
      notably the coco-de-mer forest.
    * It was officially declared a nature reserve on
      18 April 1966, under the Wild Birds Protection
      (Nature Reserves) Regulation S.I. No. 27 of 1696.
    * Further protection was afforded under the
      National Parks and Nature Conservancy Act
      (Cap. 159) S.I. No. 57 of 1979, Praslin National
      Park (Designation) Order of 1979.
    * It was inscribed on the World Heritage List
      in 1983.
    * The main vegetation type within the valley
      comprises an intermediate palm forest
      characterised by the endemic palm coco-de-mer
      Lodoicea maldivica.
    * Access within the reserve is restricted to a
      carefully designed system of paths.
    * There are considerable difficulties in
      effectively patrolling the area, and poaching
      of coco-de-mer nuts is a serious problem that
      might affect its future regeneration.
    * There is also a considerable hazard of fire,
      although all smoking or use of fire is prohibited
      within the reserve.

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Last Updated: 20-May-1999
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