coconuts

[Bill Purves]

Dave Starrett wrote:

>O.K., now I have two questions that seem to be getting conflicting answers.
>
>1)  What is the meat?  Is it cotylerdon and thus converting endosperm to
>embryo?  Is it soldified endosperm?  If it is cotyledon, where does the
>milk go?  Why is it that even ripe coconuts have milk in them, seemingly as
>much as unripe.  (in Hawaii and some asian countries brown "ripe" coconuts
>are halved and the milk drank.

The meat is solid endosperm.  Liquid endosperm gradually changes to solid
endosperm as cell walls form.

>2)  Is the coconut technically a drupe?  I had always assumed, and used the
>term, drupe to refer to dicot only.  Can it be used for monocot also?

It is technically a drupe.  The term isn't reserved for dicots.

(bill)


William K. Purves      Vice President/Editorial Director
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