Snapshot Seychelles No. 6

10 February 2025

 The Coco de Mer is a botanical wonder, a case of "island gigantism." This palm species has separate male and female plants and is found only on the Seychelles, reaching heights of over 30 meters.

Beate Ratter discovered a specimen in the Praslin National Park. She explains, “The male flowers can grow up to two meters long and produce their pollen over a period of ten years. This makes it one of the longest-lasting inflorescences known. The fruit takes about six years to ripen and can reach a diameter of up to half a meter. It can weigh as much as 30 kilograms. The Coco de Mer has the largest seed in the entire plant kingdom. It is said to be the 'only true case of island gigantism.'

When the nuts are hollow after germination, they can float. Many of them drifted northeast to the Maldives and even to Indonesia with the ocean currents, where they were welcomed on the beaches. At that time, it was believed that this nut grew on a mythical tree on the ocean floor, hence the name: Coco de Mer. It was not until the French settled in the Seychelles that it was given the Latin name Lodoicea maldivica in 1768, in honor of the French King Louis XV, although it was incorrectly attributed to the Maldives.

Today, this unique palm with its strangely shaped fruits only occurs naturally on three islands of the Seychelles: Praslin, Curieuse, and Silhouette. It is strictly protected and cannot be traded or exported without a license.