Coconut trees

Coconut

I am in Sanibel Island florida. My question :is it rare for three coconuts to grow out of one coconut. My son planted the seed and we were amazed to see three come out . One is approximately 3 stories ..one about two and one about 1. This is including the head.

Comments for Coconut trees

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Aug 15, 2018

Big Project
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

I'm going to say that having more than one sprout from a coconut would be unusual.

Coconuts, or Cocos nucifera, is what's known as a monocotyledonous plant - note the 'mono' part of the name, which means 'single'. Usually, these kinds of plants will grow only one sprout from each seed.

Of course, even animals occasionally surprise us with multiple births when they usually only have one offspring at a time, so this is just an uncommon event, not impossible.

Wikipedia points out that there are three buds inside every coconut, which explains the fact that there are three divots on the outside of the shell;

"The shell has three germination pores (micropyles) or "eyes" that are clearly visible on its outside surface once the husk is removed."

This is most likely a fail-safe, so giving three chances for survival of the species.

Enjoy your triplets!

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