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Botanical Study and Cytology

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The Coconut Genome

Part of the book series: Compendium of Plant Genomes ((CPG))

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Abstract

Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is a monospecific, monoecious and protandrous, tropical perennial tree crop. It belongs to the palm family Arecaceae which contains about 190 genera and 2800 species. It is an unbranched tree with light gray to brown colored trunk of 9–18 m height and occasionally up to 30 m height; dwarf morphoforms are also present. It has pinnate leaves with a length of 4–7 m and width of 1–1.5 m at its broadest portion. Female flowers are spherical and few while male flowers are small and abundant. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid of length up to 30 cm and of width 20 cm. The fruit consists of a thin hard exocarp, fibrous mesocarp, hard endocarp, white thick albuminous endosperm and a cavity filled with liquid endosperm. In young nuts, the coconut water/milk is abundant, which shows a gradual reduction in volume towards maturity. This chapter provides an overview of botanical and cytological aspects of coconut.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala, India

    R. Sudha, V. Niral & K. Samsudeen

Authors
  1. R. Sudha
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  2. V. Niral
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  3. K. Samsudeen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Sudha .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala, India

    M. K. Rajesh

  2. ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala, India

    S. V. Ramesh

  3. Coconut Research Institute, Lunuwila, Sri Lanka

    Lalith Perera

  4. ICAR-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, India

    Chittaranjan Kole

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Sudha, R., Niral, V., Samsudeen, K. (2021). Botanical Study and Cytology. In: Rajesh, M.K., Ramesh, S.V., Perera, L., Kole, C. (eds) The Coconut Genome. Compendium of Plant Genomes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76649-8_2

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