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COCONUT (NIU)
The coconut tree, a member of the palm family, grows in a wide
range of areas along the equator. Scientists believe it first
grew in Southeast Asia, where Marco Polo described the "Indian
Nuts" of Sumatra and India. The coconut is such a valuable plant
with so many uses that it has been carried by man to many equatorial
parts of the world.
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What is the size of a soccer ball, is filled with "meat" and liquid,
has three "eyes," over 50 different uses, can be eaten and drunk
and can fall to the ground from 75 feet without breaking? No,
it is not a creature from outer space. In fact it is something
we can see every day in Hawaii. It's a coconut! There are many
interesting facts to learn about the coconut and the tree on which
it grows.
MALE AND FEMALE FLOWERS
Coconut palms can live to be 70 to 100 years old and grow as tall
as 100 feet. In Hawaii when the tree is from 7 to 10 years old
it begins to produce flowers. Each coconut tree has both male
and female flowers. The flowers develop inside a large green boat-shaped
covering called the spathe. As the flowers grow, the spathe splits
open. There are several branch-like stems with hundreds of tiny
male flowers at the tip which look like lilies. A few female flowers,
resembling small coconuts,
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| grow near the base of the stems. Pollen
from male flowers is carried to female flow-ers by insects and wind.
Pollinated female flowers develop into coconuts in about 10 months. |
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THE MANY USES OF THE COCONUT PALM
A nourishing liquid called coconut water forms inside the growing
fruit. This tasty drink is found in nuts that are about three-quarters
ripe and are round in shape. Good drinking nuts must be picked
from the tree. Since they are completely full of liquid they do
not make a sloshing sound. Spoon meat is also found in unripe
coconuts. It is thin and soft like custard or pudding. The meat
of the mature or ripe coconut is shredded for use in many foods
and desserts.
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| The shredded meat can be dipped in hot
water and squeezed to make coconut cream or coconut milk, which
is used in several favorite luau dishes in Hawaii. Dried coconut
meat, called copra, is made from the mature coconut. The nuts are
cut open and dried in the sun to separate the meat from the shell.
A forced-air dryer takes out more moisture. The copra ispressed
in a mill to make coconut oil and coconut meal. The oil is used
in soaps,sun-tan |
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| lotion, skin care products and margarine. Coconut
meal is used in animal feed. The coconut husk, or coir, has long
fibers which are used to make rope, nets and doormats. Pieces of
husk can be used as a strainer and as scrubbers to clean floors
and cooking pots. The coconut shell can be sanded and polished and
made into dishes, drums and buttons. The stiff leaves are used for
fans and are braided to make room dividers, mats and baskets. Leaf
midribs can be used in brooms and as meat skewers. Hawaiians used
the midribs to string kukui nuts for torches. The dried trunk can
be used for building and furniture. The wood was also used by Polynesians
to make canoes and large drums. Palm sugar and alcoholic beverages
are made by boiling down the liquid from very young coconut flower
clusters. |
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THE COCONUT IS A BIG SEED
The coconut is the seed of the coconut palm. It is one of the
largest seeds in the plant world. When the coconut is ripe and
falls from the tree, germination or sprouting begins. The seedling,
called an embryo, grows near one of the eyes of the nut. The coconut
apple is part of this embryo. It expands into the inner nut and
absorbs the water and meat. The growing embryo uses the coconut
apple as nourishment. It pushes out the plug in the eye and grows
through the husk to become the stem. Roots dig into the soil and
a new coconut tree begins to grow. As you now know, the coconut
palm is one of the most useful plants in the equatorial areas
of Asia, the Pacific and Africa. All parts of the plant are valuable
in making food, tools or cosmetics. Next time you are at the beach,
look at the list of ingredi-ents in your suntan lotion and sunscreen.
Chances are coconut oil will be on that list. Remember, don't
sit under a coconut palm. A falling coconut can be dangerous to
your health!
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