In article ,
"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote:

Phred schreef
Well, for coconuts, amateurs usually find an axe or cane-knife
handy. (The pros use a sharpened wooden stake.)

Well let's at least try and stay on the level.
Opening a coconut with a wooden stake will seriously affect the viability as
a seed, so this is not to be recommended.

No, I was merely saying how you can get the husk off quickly so you're
left with just the "seed" -- but my botany was too long ago for me to
recall details of the classification of seeds. 8-)

So what *is* the seed in the coconut fruit? Just the embryo? (Well,
no, I don't think so. But they [coconut embryos] are really nice and
crunchy, with an exquisite flavour -- if you can get them at the right
stage of development. :-) Basically there's a tough outside layer,
then a fibrous layer, then a hard shell (with the "eyes" which are why
my grandmother said they would never fall on you -- totally wrong of
course), then a brown "skin" on the white flesh, then the liquid, and
finally the embryo itself. I think that's the lot.

A very safe (as concerns viability) way to transport coconuts is to commit
them to the sea. This species has MY of experience with this mode of
transport. Cheap, too. Downside is problems with exact delivery. Time frame
may be off a little, too.

Actually, this is behind one of the great debates in this part of the
world. The "plant xenophobes" would rid the continent of *all*
exotic plants if it were possible. But as a start they've picked on
coconuts (along with very few other species -- and not including
wheat, maize, potatoes, sugar cane, apples ... but you get the
point .

Seems there's a view that coconuts are not native to Australia. Given
that they are dispersed so readily by sea as you point out, and they
occur all around large parts of the Pacific, it's really hard to
believe that they didn't arrive "naturally" in Australia too.

The "death to coconuts" gang suggest that the Great Barrier Reef may
have prevented them coming ashore where they would have been best
adapted. (And they may have a point when one looks at prevailing
ocean currents -- but one of my mates also suggests the aborigines
just ate them as fast as they arrived! ;-)

Note that an axe or cane-knife is almost obligatory for some species of
Lecythidaceae, for amateurs and pro's alike!
PvR


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Actually, this is behind one of the great debates in this part of the
world. The "plant xenophobes" would rid the continent of *all*
exotic plants if it were possible. But as a start they've picked on
coconuts (along with very few other species -- and not including
wheat, maize, potatoes, sugar cane, apples ... but you get the
point .

Seems there's a view that coconuts are not native to Australia. Given
that they are dispersed so readily by sea as you point out, and they
occur all around large parts of the Pacific, it's really hard to
believe that they didn't arrive "naturally" in Australia too.

The "death to coconuts" gang suggest that the Great Barrier Reef may
have prevented them coming ashore where they would have been best
adapted. (And they may have a point when one looks at prevailing
ocean currents -- but one of my mates also suggests the aborigines
just ate them as fast as they arrived! ;-)
Cheers, Phred.

+ + +
Introductions are a matter of great debate here either, but nowhere near the
problem they are in Australia. The flora and fauna in Europe are pretty
tough so that most invaders have a hard time of it.

Nevertheless from time tot time gardening centers have to be forbidden from
selling yet another cute pond plant or animal when this goes out of control,
being dumped in the wild by garden owners and then running amok.

At one point there was also debate on having the forests here producing more
wood so as to limit wood imports, but the only trees to produce (relatively)
high quality woods are 'exotics' such as Pseudotsuga and Robinia. Nowadays
all the useful trees are weeded out of the forests as 'exotics' and forest
owners are going out of business.

On the other hand rabbits (introduced by the Romans) are now somewhat
protected, mostly since hunters like to shoot at them.

Of course farmers don't grow any plant even remotely native.
PvR

Of course farmers don't grow any plant even remotely native.

Unless they are growing cole crops. Cabbage's wild progenitor occurs on sea
cliffs on both sides of the Channel.

Jie-san Laushi

Huodau lau, xuedau lau, hai you sanfen xue bulai
_____________________________________________
to email: eliminate redundancy

On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 18:26:43 GMT, "P van Rijckevorsel"
wrote:


Introductions are a matter of great debate here either, but nowhere near the
problem they are in Australia. The flora and fauna in Europe are pretty
tough so that most invaders have a hard time of it.

Nevertheless from time tot time gardening centers have to be forbidden from
selling yet another cute pond plant or animal when this goes out of control,
being dumped in the wild by garden owners and then running amok.

At one point there was also debate on having the forests here producing more
wood so as to limit wood imports, but the only trees to produce (relatively)
high quality woods are 'exotics' such as Pseudotsuga and Robinia. Nowadays
all the useful trees are weeded out of the forests as 'exotics' and forest
owners are going out of business.

I don't know how it is in the Netherlands, but in Britain forest
owners are going out of business (when they are) because of the low
price of softwoods. Who's doing all that 'weeding' so as to bankrupt
these forest owners? Also I don't know what your definition of 'high
quality' is, but the cost of beech or oak furniture says something.
Over here Robinia isn't much grown, but (for instance) a lot of the
Douglas Fir from north and mid Wales seems to end up in the chipboard
factory at Y Waun - not my idea of high quality.

On the other hand rabbits (introduced by the Romans) are now somewhat
protected, mostly since hunters like to shoot at them.

The Netherlands are a more unusual country than I thought. A place
where the rabbits need protecting in order to give the hunters enough
to shoot at! What form does this 'somewhat' protection take, by the
way?

--
Martin (off-duty)
Chandlers Ford, Hampshire

In article ,
Phred wrote:

then a brown "skin" on the white flesh, then the liquid, and
finally the embryo itself. I think that's the lot.

Can an amateur in a cold climate identify a coconut embryo? We mostly
see them stripped to the hard brown shell, but green coconuts do appear
here, usually hacked to a convenient size to hold and with a hole bored
and a plastic straw stuck in.

Seems there's a view that coconuts are not native to Australia. Given
that they are dispersed so readily by sea as you point out, and they
occur all around large parts of the Pacific, it's really hard to
believe that they didn't arrive "naturally" in Australia too.

They seem to be common around the Indian Ocean as well. If tiny geckos
can make it all the way from Madagascar to the Andaman Islands by sea,
with possible stops at Reunion and Mauritius, why not coconuts to Australia
from Sri Lanka or Indonesia?

The "death to coconuts" gang suggest that the Great Barrier Reef may
have prevented them coming ashore where they would have been best
adapted. (And they may have a point when one looks at prevailing
ocean currents -- but one of my mates also suggests the aborigines
just ate them as fast as they arrived! ;-)

I like the island-hopping hypothesis. It's better than the one where
they stick to bird's feet or travel in their guts.