Learn About Seychelles Giant 66 Pound Sea Coconut

Seychelles Sea Coconut

The Sea Coconut has the largest leaves and the largest seed in the plant kingdom. The seeds weigh in around 14.9 kg or 33 pounds to a hefty 29.9 kg or 66 pounds.

Seychelles Home of the Giant 66 pound Sea Coconut of Africa

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

1-26-2016

Seychelles is a collection of islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island on the Seychelles is Mahe, which is home to about 90% of the population of Seychelles and the site of its capital city Victoria.

Seychelles Sea Coconut is endemic to the Seychelles. It occurs naturally only on the islands of Fond Ferdinand, Vallée de Mai, Anse Marie-Louise Praslin and Curieuse. It is also found in the Praslin National Park and the Curieuse Marine National Park. The sea coconut population consists of a total of 8,282 mature trees, of which most are found within three subpopulations 1,440 in the Vallée de Mai, 1,380 in Fond Ferdinand, 1,750 on Curieuse. Some sea coconuts are also found scattered across Praslin.

Sea coconut trees generally take 30-60 years to begin flowering and may continue to do so for another 100-150 years. One of the homes of this fantastic tree is the Seychelles, where only two populations of the Coco de Mer remain in the wild.

Due to the fantastic almost unbelievable size of the seed, the sea coconuts were believed to grow on a mythological tree at the bottom of the sea. This rare palm tree has a female sex and a male sex and is used in the creation of variety of herbal mixtures and medicines for coughs and colds.

The Coco de Mer tree is now a rare and protected species. Trade in the sea coconut seeds is closely watched, but plundering Coco de Mer trees for illegal trade remains a problem because of their high value to buyers. The seeds are used and traded as souvenirs and decorations.

Another threat to the sea coconut is fire since trees take almost half a century to start producing seeds. Previously used as a medicinal plant. The leaves have also been used locally as thatch and plaiting. The empty shells have been used as vessels and the down from young leaves has been used for stuffing pillows.

The sea coconut is legally protected by the Breadfruit and other trees Act (Laws of Seychelles 1991) and the Coco-de-Mer Management Decree 1978, revised in 1994. It is found in the Praslin National Park and the Curieuse Marine National Park.

Did you know?
The scientific name of the Sea Coconut is Lodoicea maldivica.