The coco de mer, a palm tree which can be found on the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles, is definitely no ordinary palm tree…
Because of the fruit’s, ahem, unique shape, the coco de mer was originally given the botanical name Lodoicea callipyge, “callipyge” being Greek for “beautiful buttocks”.
I wouldn’t advise trying to compliment your other-half by telling them their behind is shaped like a coconut, though…
The shape of the male flowers and the female fruits of the coco de mer led people to believe that the palms made passionate love to each other on stormy nights. To explain the inconvenient fact that no one had actually seen this happen, it was said that anyone who saw the act immediately either died or went blind.
It was also believed that the palm’s fruit (which is also known as the sea coconut and the love nut) had magical healing properties. The nuts would fall from the trees, end up in the sea and float to the Maldivian coast, where they were collected by the locals. Because of this, many people originally believed that the nuts grew on a tree at the bottom of the ocean.
As well as doing the best bottom impression of any other fruit, the coco de mer’s fruit is also one of the heaviest and the largest of the plant kingdom. When mature, the fruit can reach between 40 and 50 cm in diameter and 15 to 30 kg in weight. So it’s little wonder that the fruit takes six to seven years to grow to full maturity!
Sadly, due to the popularity of the palm’s nuts and the loss of much of its natural habitat, the coco de mer is now an endangered species, with only just over 8,000 mature palms left. So get yourself down to the Seychelles quickly if you want to see this incredible palm before it’s gone forever!