Coco de mer

The coco de mer has the largest seeds in the plant kingdom – its suggestively shaped nuts, weighing over 20 kg, are a symbol of Seychelles.

The coco de mer is a tall palm growing to 25–30 m, with huge fan-shaped leaves that can be several metres long. It is dioecious – male trees produce catkin-like inflorescences up to a metre long, while female trees bear fruits that take as long as 6–7 years to ripen. Inside lies a double, two-lobed seed – the largest in the plant kingdom, usually weighing well over 10 kg and sometimes more than 20 kg. The leaves act like funnels, channelling rainwater and nutrients to the base of the trunk. The palm germinates and grows very slowly and can live for several hundred years.

Significance in the country

In the past, nuts washed up by the sea on the shores of the Maldives were thought to be the fruit of an underwater tree, and fortunes were paid for them. Today the palm appears on the coat of arms of Seychelles, and the Vallée de Mai on Praslin, where its forest grows, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; exporting the nuts requires a special certificate.

Where it grows

Wild only on Praslin (the Vallée de Mai and surroundings, in the districts of Baie Sainte Anne and Grand’Anse Praslin) and neighbouring Curieuse; a few specimens planted on Mahé.

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