Life cycle of the Coqueiro Anão-verde

A walk around the lagoa in Rio always brings some surprise. There is always some tree or bush with a flower that I have never noticed before. This Sunday it was a plant (tree) that I did not recognize. Only about 12 feet tall (4m) with this spiny group of buds growing from the trunk's side about head high (That means 5'6"). I stepped off the path for a closer look and, of course, a photo or two. I said to Camillo, isn't this interesting - look at this, is it a fruit?

No it's a coconut! A Coqueiro Anão-verde: A dwarf coconut now being grown on plantations in Brasil. Fast growing, fast fruiting, long lived and easy to harvest. Just what is needed to supply the


locals with their agua d0 coco after a hot walk in the sun. I had never seen the flower or the young fruit so close-up before. Buds, flowers, young fruit, mature fruit and what appeared to be a dry brown seed/nut all on one tree.

Made my day!