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COCONUT PALM FACTS |
Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License
Common Name
Coconut Palm
Description
The Coconut Palm is a smooth-trunked self-cleaning palm that grows to about thirty metres tall. The trunk is often leaning at an angle and enlarged at the base. The pinnate fronds grow to four or five metres long and have about two hundred long narrow leaflets. The plant produces white flowers that grow in large branched clusters, containing both male and female flowers in the same cluster. The fruit is the well known coconut and a single plant can produce a few dozen coconuts in a year. Coconut palms are grown commercially in many countries around the world.
Habitat
grows on sandy shores, coral islands, river estuaries.
Distribution
Coco nucifera is found on islands and coastal areas in the tropics around the world. It has been transported around the world by people, but also distributes itself naturally as the coconut fruit floats and is salt tolerant. In Australia it is found along north east Queensland, the Gulf of Carpentaria and around the Torres Strait islands.
Growth Characteristics
Height: 10m - 30m
Spread: fronds 3m - 4m
Classification
| Class: | Liliopsida | | Order: | Arecales | | Family: | Arecaceae | | Genus: | Cocos | | Species: | nucifera | | Common Name: | Coconut Palm |
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