 P. Goltra
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Taxonomy: |
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Cocos nucifera 'Spicata" (Arecaceae)
Common Names:
Coconut Palm
Coco Calm
Hawaiian Names:
Niu
Nu
Ni
Classification:
Cocos nucifera L.
Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta-Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta-Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta-Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida-Monocotyledons
Subclass: Arecidae
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae-Palm Family
Genus: Cocos L.- Coconut Palm
Species: Cocos nucifera L. 'Spicata' - Coconut Palm
(National Plant Database. 2004.)
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Description: |
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A new type of Cocos nucifera the cultivar 'Spicata' is slower growing than the Maypan cultivar and it is actually a semi-dwarf plant, and shorter than 'Malayan Dwarf' cultivar. It has a more delicate appearance and orange-red fruit.
(See also, Cocos nucifera)
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Geographic Distribution: |
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Native to tropical eastern regions, today it is grown both over the Asian continent (India, Ceylon, Indonesia) and in Central and South America (Mexico, Brazil). In Africa, the largest producing countries are Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana.
(Krauss, B. H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
(Kepler, A. K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants.)
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Food Uses: |
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This tree is strong, resilient and can provide us with our most basic need for life - water! The most sterile water on earth is from this nut.
There are stories of island and coastal people surviving months of drought with this the only drinking water available. The perfect drinking nut is full-sized, yet immature. It is green, with no trace of yellow color, and it must be picked. Up to one quart of water is inside, but you can't hear it when you shake it. The yellow or browning coconut is mature when it drops to the ground. There is still some water in the cavity, which can be combined to make coconut milk. Coconut milk is a blend of coconut water and the scrapings of the coconut meat. This milk is a good source of iron and contains calcium, phosphorus, protein and vitamins.
Coconut water, like the taro, is an alkali producer in the digestive system and therefore helps in the important balancing of pH in the human body. Often, a too-acidic body is prone to disease, whereas if the pH is balanced with alkaline-producing foods, the body is more prone to stay in good health.
As food, the niu flesh or meat is used for different purposes, depending upon the maturity of the nut. The jelly-like spoon meat of a green nut is the first stage. The next stage is when the shell is still white and the flesh soft and white. Half ripe it is eaten raw with Hawai'i red salt and poi. At the next stage, the nut is mature, but the husk not dried. The flesh of a mature nut coconut cream, which when mixed with kalo(taro) makes a dish called kulolo. With 'uala (sweet potato) it is called poipalau and paipaiee with ripe 'ulu (breadfruit). These delicious dessert-like foods were traditionally cooked in the imu, the underground oven. Haupia is made with niu cream mixed with pia(Polynesian arrowroot), traditionally wrapped in ti leaves and baked in the imu. The mature meat of coconut is also grated, squeezed or scraped to be cooked in main dishes with fish, chicken or greens.
The coconut heart is sometimes eaten as a vegetable. The heart is located just below the crown of leaves, and can be as long as a human leg. It keeps fresh for about two weeks. The spongy pulp, in a sprouting nut is also considered choice food.
In preparing copra, the dried meat of the coconut, the nuts are cut in half, the milk drained off, and the nuts are exposed to sun. The partially dried meat contracts and can be readily removed from the shell. Further drying reduces the moisture to under 8 percent, necessary to prevent mold growth. Artificial heat is often used for this. The fresh meats contain 30 to 40 percent of oil, the dried copra 60 to 70 percent. The oil is extracted from the copra by heating and pressing in various types of expellers. The oil is used for margarines and vegetable shortenings. The press cake is used for livestock feed. World production of coconut oil is near 2,400,000 tons. Around 300,000 tons of copra and over 200,000 tons of coconut oil are imported into the U.S. annually.
(Krauss, B. H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
(Kepler, A. K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants.)
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Status: |
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The coconut palm is perhaps the widest-grown palm in the world, coconuts feature as one of the main sources of income for producing countries, in that a large number of different products utilised and appreciated in the western countries as well are made out of them.
(Krauss, B.
H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
(Kepler, A. K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants.)
(Magness, J.R., G.M. Markle, C.C. Compton. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States.)
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Scientific Research: |
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Presently, it is being tested for disease resistance to Lethal Yellowing.
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Native Legends and Names: |
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The name Cocos probably derives from a Portuguese word meaning monkey, perhaps because its nut, bearing three germinating pores, resembles a monkey face.
Its specific name derives from Latin, meaning nut-bearing, from fero meaning I bear and nux-nucis meaning nut.
(Krauss, B. H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
(Kepler, A. K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants.)
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Indigenous Practices: |
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Coconut leaves are used to make baskets, roofing thatch. The apical buds of adult plants are an excellent palm-cabbage, an alcoholic drink known as Toddy or palm wine extracted from its sugar sap, tapped from the inflorescences by means of apposite cuttings.
The trunk is very strong and elastic, and is able to bend in heavy winds.
In times of hurricanes the coconut palm has been a life saver. People lashing themselves to this flexible tree have avoided being swept out to sea. This palm is the most useful plant of the tropics. It is said that more uses are made of it than any other tree in the world. Besides drink, food and shade, niu offers the possibilities of housing, thatching, hats, baskets, furniture, mats, cordage, clothing, charcoal, brooms, fans, ornaments, musical instruments, shampoo, containers, implements and oil for fuel, light, ointments, soap and more.
(Krauss, B. H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
(Kepler, A. K. 1998. Hawaiian Heritage Plants.)
(Information for this species compiled and recorded by Camelia Cirnaru, NTBG Consultant.)
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NEWS
