Coconuts in west cost of Americas

[User00]

any info of  coconut found on west cost of  tropical Central America before coulombs

 

[Zeeth]

This topic is disputed, but there is some evidence that coconuts were present before Columbus. The famous "Panama tall" coconut is genetically very similar to the tall types in the Philippines, and are distinct from the varieties found in Polynesia. One would think that this suggests that coconuts were imported by the Spanish, who colonized the Philippines in the 1500's, but there are accounts of coconuts present in South America when the Spanish first arrived:

http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/113/1/1.full.pdf

 

[DoomsDave]

This is a profound topic.

I don't think anyone really knows where Cocos originated. People love them, to eat, sit under, build with, and just to look at. We certainly played a role.

Add to that, a coconut is a little ship in and of itself, that can float from Miami to Norway. Or Samoa to ?? and sprout on a beach.

[RedRabbit]

Is there reason to believe they didn't just float there? 

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

18 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Is there reason to believe they didn't just float there? 

If I am not mistaken, I think the tropical currents flow eastward from the Pacific Islands, and could have very easily floated there on there own, especially during El Nino years, when the warm waters of the South Pacific and West Pacific head eastward to the coast of the Americas, which presumably would carry quite a few coconuts during those years.  I think Easter Island had coconut palms centuries ago, which is not too far west of the coast of South America.  I think the native islanders though chopped most of them down, but they could have been a source of viable nuts for the South American/Central American coastline though.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Mr. Coconut Palm

[Zeeth]

23 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Is there reason to believe they didn't just float there? 

Here's a good quote in the article I posted about that idea:

Yet the Panama Tall is no doubt descended from cultivated populations. It must have been brought to the Americas, because the distance from the Philippines to Panama prevents unaided drifting. At the same time, it is clear that the tradition of coconut cultivation was not passed to the natives of Central America, maybe because those who brought it had little contact with them, because they did not stay long enough, or because they reached America in another region, possibly more to the south. It could be the Bay of Cara ́quez, as proposed by Baudouin and Lebrun (2009) or the Gulf of Guayaquil, one of the three regions highlighted by Jones et al. (2011) for pre-Columbian contact. The journey from the Philippines to America was not necessarily direct. An intermediate stage in the Polynesian triangle is unlikely because the genetic structure of the populations is different (Gunn et al., 2011) but a more northern route, via the Polynesian outliers (whose coconut populations are yet to be characterized molecularly) can be envisaged. Further research in this area is needed. 

[grant b.]

cool topic.  there are not many history discussions on this forum.  I'd love to read more

[Joe NC]

16 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

 I think Easter Island had coconut palms centuries ago, which is not too far west of the coast of South America.  I think the native islanders though chopped most of them down, but they could have been a source of viable nuts for the South American/Central American coastline though.

The former Easter Island palms were potentially similar to Jubaea (at least had similar nuts). 

extinct easter island palm

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2016‎ ‎2‎:‎44‎:‎50‎, Joe NC said:

The former Easter Island palms were potentially similar to Jubaea (at least had similar nuts). 

extinct easter island palm

Hey Joe

That was an interesting link.  I just assumed that the palms that were there were coconut palms because that is what was portrayed in a movie about the native people of the island and how they were cutting the palms down to use them.  I also made the assumption that the palms were coconut palms, since Easter Island is in a part of the Pacific Ocean in the vicinity of where coconut palms grow naturally, and that it is plausible that currents carried viable coconuts to the beaches there that could have sprouted even before mankind may have carried coconut palms there.

John