Seed Thieves
Imagine with me a 30kg coconut. Outrageous, right? But not if you’re a Lodiocea maldivica, or Coco-de-mer palm tree. These trees have some of the longest leaves and biggest seeds of any plant on the planet. It takes about 25 years for a Coco-de-mer to reach maturity and begin to bear fruit, and even then they only fruit once every seven years. It takes a lot of energy to make such giant seeds.
These trees are native to the Seychelles, a country composed of about 90 islands located 600 miles northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Of these 90 islands, Coco-de-mer palms can only be found on two of them (Praslin and Curieuse), so if you want to see them, plan your trip carefully. You are most likely to find them in rainforests with deep, well drained soils, but these trees are considered endangered according to the IUCN Red List, so you may have to search pretty hard to see one.
And why are they endangered? Mostly because humans have been fascinated by and have subsequently coveted the giant coconuts. When the coconuts are taken and used to make bowls or are frequently presented as gifts during the proceedings of royal courts, the trees can’t reproduce.
We’re just a bunch of seed thieves.
Source
“Coco-de-mer Videos, Photos and Facts.” ARKive. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2016. <http://www.arkive.org/coco-de-mer/lodoicea-maldivica/>.
