International Journal of Plant Biology 2021; volume 11:9025 The evidence for native two main phenotypes of coconuts based on coconuts growing in Australia clear morphological characteristics − niu Correspondence: André Leu, PO Box 800, kafa and niu vai.3 Mossman, Queensland, Australia. The wild-type, niu kafa, is well adapted Tel.: +61428459870. André Leu for spending many months at sea crossing E-mail:
[email protected] International Director, Regeneration oceans to colonize new lands because of its Key words: Cocos nucifera L., Indo-Pacific International, Australia thicker husk with 3-sided angular shape species, coconut management, niu kafa, niu vai. giving it a keel that can dig a trench into the sand so it can plant itself. It and its interme- Conflict of interest: The author declares no Abstract diate types colonized much of the tropical conflict of interest. Indo-Pacific. The fossil records show that The coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is not they were in PNG 4,000 years ago and in Funding: The author self-funded this research. considered to be a native species in Vanuatu 5,000 years ago.3,4 Australia due to the belief that the early Research shows that coconuts had colo- Received for publication: 18 November 2020. European sea captains and botanists did not nized the islands of the Pacific as far out as Revision received: 24 November 2020. find coconut trees. A search of their reports Tahiti thousands of years before the arrival Accepted for publication: 27 November 2020. shows that they regularly found evidence of of humans. There is evidence that coconuts coconuts including green and fresh nuts.