DON’T MESS WITH A COCONUT PALM
Cocos nucifera: Badass palm
Plant warfare is as old as… well, as old as plants. Like very other living thing, a plant must corner its share of water, sunlight and nutrients if it hopes to live long and reproduce. Some resort to poisoning their neighbors, others just race for the sky, hoping to shade out the competition. The coconut palm starves its neighbors.
Plants are sessile — stuck in one spot — but they are hardly helpless. Thorns and big, shade-casting leaves are among the more obvious weaponry they deploy. And they have ways of attracting what they need. A good roosting tree will bring in flocks of birds who shower its roots with fresh, high-quality fertilizer.
The coconut palm doesn’t look very belligerent. But now that I think about it, it’s quite a contender. It has that long, flexible trunk that protects it both from hurricanes and neighbors that might try to shade it. And now researchers have found it to be an excellent scarecrow.
Its fronds are inhospitable to birds either perching or nesting. Brilliant! Wait… so what?
So what is that the area around the palm gets no fresh, high quality fertilizer. The palm, who can get by on nearly nothing, is fine. But any plant that hopes to take root in the vicinity is going to find very little to eat.
It’s a cool strategy. And think about the beaches of the tropical world. All coconuts. The seeds float around in the ocean until they wash up on a beach. They sprout, living off the fat of the seed. And they stake their claim by repelling birds, and eliminating fertilizer from their environs.
Some other time: The walking palm, whose Latin name is Who you callin’ sessile?
February 3rd, 2010 saat: 6:59 pm
since you are talking about coconuts… may I ask do you know why does it work so well as armpit deodorant and body moisturizer, sunscreen? In my search for Mother Earth’s body care products, I found that simple coconut oil just like milk, raw butter can all heal cracks, dry skin and home made kefir sun burns. is it enzymes? is it bacteria that does the work for us? I know I use enough of raw butter, coconut oil and kefir inside and outside of body to drown a baby, but how come does it neutralize the body odor creating bacteria has been puzzling me for few years now. FIGURED I COULD ASK SCIENCE ORIENTED PERSON
February 3rd, 2010 saat: 8:31 pm
I don’t know that, but I do know that coconut milk, or perhaps the juice before it’s ripe, was used as a plasma substitute for injured soldiers in World War Something. Apparently we’re 98.5% chimpanzee, and 84% coconut.
February 3rd, 2010 saat: 9:09 pm
That is very fascinating… I read claims of coconut milk, flesh and water being as beneficial as breast milk due to it’s lauric acid content. and it’s claims of high Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Potassium and magnesium. But as good as blood is a new one. Thank you
maybe breast milk in plasma would do the work too:) need to have money to do science experiments:)
Since you have been in tropical regions (I assume from your photos and stories in your book) Have you personally observed the “less” aging human skin in coco-nutty areas?
It’s Interesting to hear about “slower aging humans” in coco-nutty regions but confirming is the more complicated part:) It may also be due to diets rich in fresh, straight out of the ground non oxidized nutrients and physical activity in the fresh air, but human health and our approaches to it can’t stop fascinating me 
I think I will get a restraining order if I post another comment:)
have a happy day!