EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Drifter of the Oceans

Coconut seed (Cocos nucifera), Family Arecaceae
Santa Cruz, Nayarit, Mexico

Explanation:  Ah, the warm beaches of sunny Mexico!  Tequila, soft sand, nice breezes, gentle surf.  And the icon of the tropical shores, the coconut.  

Coconut palms are grown world-wide, but it is actually originates from the Indian Ocean region of the Old World.  And yet here it is, on the beach of western Mexico.  

This "coconut" castaway is actually a huge one-seed fruit called a drupe.  The fruit can disperse across vast oceanic stretches, and the husk and shell protect the inner seed from the harshness of salt water.  Classic scenes of South Sea islands bedecked with coconut palms hanging low over the surf would not have been possible without the dispersal capability of this world traveler.  

They also have been carried and introduced far and wide by early Pacific islanders as a source of food and drink, and the tree is used for building materials.  The plant has an amazing number of uses.