Coconut palm
ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಮರनारियलதேங்காய்
Cocos nucifera L.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 8.3 m
- wide
- 3.6 m
Arecaceae
Also called Coconut, Cocopalm
Formerly Calappa nucifera, Cocos indica, Cocos mamillaris, Cocos nana, and 1 more
When it flowers
Flowers June to January in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- TreeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- C. Malesia to SW. PacificKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from RHS and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Height
- 6.6 m to 9.9 mRead from RHS and UF/IFAS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 1–1.5 m; UF/IFAS 40–60 ft
- Spread
- 3.1 m to 4.1 mRead from RHS and UF/IFAS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 0.1–0.5 m; UF/IFAS 20–25 ft
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from RHS, one source
- Flowers
- YellowRead from UF/IFAS, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
Australian Umbrella TreeFlowers February to May, when this does not
Banana passionfruitFlowers February to May, when this does not
Bengal clock vineFlowers February to May, when this does not
Bitter MelonFlowers February to May, when this does not
Bleeding heart vineFlowers February to May, when this does not
Blue Trumpet VineFlowers February to May, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- Hawaiian
- niu, ololani
- root
- ma-sun, ticaja, tsa'pcum
- Spanish
- Cocotero
- Indonesian
- Kelapa
- Chinese
- 椰子, 可可椰子, 那羅雞羅
- Portuguese
- Coqueiro-comum, Coqueiro, Coco
- Afrikaans
- kokospalm
- Hungarian
- Kókuszpálma
- Greek
- Κοκοφοίνικας
- French
- Cocotier
- Russian
- Кокосовая пальма
- Dutch
- Kokospalm, Klapperboom
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Cocos nucifera (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.