Coco-de-mer at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Whenever you visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens, have you noticed some circular patches of land are being cordoned off using low fences that are flagged with labels that spell “Experiment in Progess”?

Within these circles lay a layer of dead leaves serving as mulch. Below this layer of leaves sits the seed of the double coconut. The Singapore Botanic Gardens is actually trying to germinate these seeds, touted to be biggest in the world! Seeds can take up to 7 years to mature on the plant and they can take up another 2 years to sprout! 

The seeds of the double coconut can actually be bought but they do not come cheap. Visit this website – http://www.rarepalmseeds.com – to find out the price! The double coconut got its name from the look of the seed. Each seed consists of two lobes and I find them obscene-looking, resembling somewhat like someone’s buttocks!

Within each of these circles sit one seed of the double coconut.

The label one will see on each of these circles.

The plaque shown above is planted next to a mature male tree in the Gardens. Interestingly, double coconut trees are like humans, as separate sexes occur in separate trees. The double coconut, also known as Coco-de-mer can only be found on the two islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles and highly protected in its native habitat.

The male tree, towering above me and it must be several decades old! The name of the genus which the double coconut belongs to, Lodoicea, is derived from Lodoicus, the Latinised form of Louis, in honour of King Louis XV of France. The double coconut is the single species in this genus.

The obscene-looking seed of the double coconut peeking above the layer of mulch.

The double coconut is also known as the sea coconut and its seed has medicinal uses in traditional Chinese medicine. The seed of the double coconut is known in traditional Chinese medicine as Semen Lodoiceae maldivicae. Slices of the seed are boiled in soup to yield a decoction to treat treat chronic cough and for arrest bleeding.