Description

Tree Palm tree with a smooth, columnar, light grayish brown trunk, and topped with a terminal crown of leaves. Tall selections may attain a height of 80 to 100 feet while dwarf selections are shorter in stature. The trunk is slender and slightly swollen at the base. It is usually erect but may be leaning or curved.

Leaves The pinnate leaves are feather-shaped, up to 18 feet long and 6 feet wide. The leaf stalks are 3 to 5 feet in length and thornless.

Flowers Flowers are small, light yellow, and in clusters which emerge from canoe-shaped sheaths among the leaves. The coconut palm flowers approximately after the sixth year.

Fruit Roughly ovoid, up to 15 inches long and 12 inches wide, composed of a thick, fibrous husk surrounding a somewhat spherical nut with a hard, brittle hairy shell. The nut is 6 to 8 inches in diameter and 10 to 12 inches long. It weighs around 1-2 kg. Each, depending on the nut's maturity and will comprise 35-45% of the total weight. Three sunken holes of softer tissue called "eyes" are at one end of the nut. Inside the shell is a thin, white, fleshy layer, about ? inch thick at maturity, known as the "meat". The interior of the nut is hollow but partially filled with a watery liquid called "coconut milk". The coconut milk is abundant in unripe fruits but it is gradually absorbed as ripening proceeds. The fruits are green at first turning brownish as they mature. Yellow varieties go from yellow to brown.