Cocos nucifera L. | |
Arecaceae | |
Thennai | |
| Botanical Name | Cocos nucifera L. |
| Synonyms | Cocos nana Griff; Cocos indica .Royle |
| Family | Arecaceae |
| Common Name | English : Coconut / Tamil: Thennai |
| Distribution | Global : Cultivated throughout the tropics Indian : Throughout India |
| Description | Erect trees up 20 m tall some time exceeds 30m height with annular petiolar scars. Leaves pinnatisect, 4-6 m long, leaflets reduplicate, base narrow, apex tapering, acute. Spadices interfoliar, 100cm long, panicled. Spathe 60-130 cm long, oblong, woody. Flowers monoecious, subsessile. Male flowers, often paired. Sepals ovate, Petals ovate, woody, yellowish-brown. Stamens 6, pistillode short, 3-fid. Female flowers 1-3 per branch, basal, globose. Perianth-lobes 6, woody, outer lobes broadly obovate, inner lobes reniform. Ovary 3-celled, ovule 1 per cell, style short. Drupe, ovoid or globose, trigonous, pericarp fibrous, endocarp stony. Seed coherent with the endocarp. |
| Flowering Fruiting period | Throughout the year |
| Uses | Commercially cultivated, Edible, Oil, Peat-free compost, and fibre |
| Medicinal Uses | Antipyretic, Venereal diseases treatment, Antioxidant and diuretic. |
| Tamil Name | Thennai |
