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Cocos nucifera L.

Synonym                    : Calappa nucifera (L.) Kuntze.

Family                        : Arecaceae

Local Names              : Thengu, Shubaga, Coconut tree

Flowering and fruiting period: Throughout the year 

Distribution: Cultivated throughout the tropics

Habitat: Cultivated

IUCN status: Data Deficient

Endemic: No

Uses: Nut edible, oil yielding, firewood, house making, remedy for urinary disorders.   

Key Characters: Coconut trees are erect trees with annular petiolar scars.  Leaves pinnatisect, 4-6 m long.  Spadices interfoliar, panicled.  Spathe oblong, woody.  Flowers monoecious.  Male flowers: often paired.  Sepals ovate.  Petals ovate, woody, yellowish-brown.  Stamens 6; pistillode short, 3-fid.  Female flowers, basal, globose.  Perianth-lobes 6; woody; outer lobes broadly obovate.  Ovary 3-celled; ovule 1 per cell; style short.  Drupe ovoid or globose, trigonous; pericarp fibrous; endocarp stony.  Seed coherent with the endocarp.