Coconuts are a kind of fruit that come from trees. Coconuts grow on trees called coconut palms. Coconuts are grown in warm climates, like in the tropics.
But Coconut trees are tall and skinny. They grow up to 80 feet tall. The trunk is a little bit fat at the bottom and skinny at the top. The top is covered with big leaves and the trunk is covered with little leaves. The trunk has a bunch of flowers that turn into coconuts. The coconuts are in a hard shell with meat and liquid inside. The meat is sweet and the liquid is water. The coconuts are brown and white on the outside. They can float in the ocean and they can be moved by ocean currents. People use the coconuts to make things like oil, food, and toys.
There are two kinds of coconut palms. The tall kind and the short kind. They are both very tall and they have flowers. The tall kind has flowers that are in the middle of the tree. The short kind has flowers that are at the top of the tree. The tall kind has flowers that are on the right side of the tree. The short kind has flowers that are on the left side of the tree. The tall kind has flowers that are at the top of the tree and the short kind has flowers that are at the bottom of the tree. The tall kind has flowers that are on the left side and the short kind has flowers that are on the right side.
HYBRID COCONUT PALMS
Hybrids are crosses between two different kinds of coconut trees. Some examples of hybrids are Dwarf and Tall, Tall and Tall, and Dwarf and Dwarf. Hybrids are usually better than both of the parents. They produce more copra and have more nuts per tree. They are better than the parents. So people usually grow hybrids.
When people cross a dwarf coconut tree with a tall coconut tree, the result is a hybrid coconut tree. Hybrids are bigger and stronger than either of their parents. They also bear fruit after three or four years. They have more nuts and the nuts are bigger. The nuts and the oil are better quality than the ones from the dwarf or tall coconut trees.
The Roots
Palms have roots that grow out of the bottom of the trunk. The roots are very strong and the palm can grow very tall. The roots are not like most plants; they don’t grow straight down like most plants do. The roots grow out horizontally from the bottom of the trunk. The roots are very strong.
The roots hang down from the bottom of the trunk and are very long. The roots are not like most plants; they don’t grow straight down like most plants do. The roots grow out horizontally from the bottom of the trunk. The roots are very strong and the palm can grow very tall. The roots are not like most plants; they don’t grow straight down like most plants do. The roots grow out horizontally from the bottom.
The agronomic characteristics of coconut production can be mapped out by the life cycle of a coconut (Figure 4.3).
The Fruit
Once the flower has been pollinated and fertilized, the fruit will grow. It takes about a year to grow the fruit. The fruit is a drupe. A drupe is a fruit that has a hard outer layer and a soft inside. The outside of the fruit is green, red brown or even ivory. The inside of the fruit is white and firm. The ripe fruit has a white, fibrous mass on the outside that is called the husk. The husk is used to make rope.
Within this fibrous mass is the nut with a hard shell (endocarp) enclosing the kernel (endosperm). Between the shell and the kernel is a thin brown seed coat (testa). It adheres firmly to the kernel which is the white flesh, about 12 mm thick lining the central cavity containing the nut water. Towards the end of maturation, the volume of water in the cavity decreases considerably which may be due to absorption by the endosperm tissue or to evaporation. Matured nuts have a sloshing sound of water inside when shaken.