Niu Kafa "Wild" Coconuts

[Carlo Morici]

Niu Kafa: I always wanted to know more about these palms and how do they perform in cultivation.

Carlo

According to Hugh C. Harries (Botanical Review Vol. 44, 1978), the niu kafa type represents the ancestral, naturally-evolved, wild-type coconut, disseminated by floating. The niu vai type was derived by domestic selection for increased endosperm ("meat" and "milk") and is widely dispersed and cultivated by humans.

The niu kafa has an elongate, angular fruit, up to 6 inches in diameter, with a small egg-shaped nut surrounded by an unusually thick husk. Domesticated "Niu vai" types have a larger more spherical fruit, up to 10 inches in diameter, with a large, spherical nut inside a thin husk(...)Edited from:http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htm

[Dave-Vero]

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htm#coconut

A well-written page.