Cocos nucifera L.

• Authority

  Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.

• Family

  Arecaceae

• Scientific Name

  Cocos nucifera L.

• Description

  Species Description - Trunk up to 30 m. high, usually 10-20 m. Leaves 3-6 m. long, somewhat drooping, short-petioled, the numerous linear-lanceolate, acuminate segments shining above, 5-7 dm. long, about 5 cm. wide; staminate flowers 10-12 mm. long; pistillate flowers about 2.5 cm. long; fruit ovoid or ellipsoid, bluntly 3-angled, 2-3 dm. long, the fibrous husk 2-4 cm. thick, the bony endocarp 3-5 mm. thick, the hollow endosperm about 1 cm. thick, filled with a clear saccharine liquid, which ultimately disappears.

• Discussion

  Eoystonea regia (H.B.K.) O. F. Cook, Royal Palm, recorded from the Bahamas, is known to us in the archipelago only as a planted tree.