Coconut palms spread by dropping fruit into the sea, where buoyant husks float to distant shores.

The longer version

A coconut fruit is built for a sea voyage. The outer husk is fibrous and full of air spaces, so it floats, while the hard inner shell and its waterproof layers keep the seed inside from being soaked by salt water.

Currents can carry a fruit a long distance before it washes onto a shore and takes root above the tide line. The supply of water and food packed inside the seed gives the young palm enough to establish itself in sandy ground, which helps explain why the species appears naturally on so many tropical coasts.

Where this entry sits

Plants and Trees gathers ordinary and surprising details about how green things live, from the tallest forest giants down to the moss on a garden wall. Expect notes on flowers, seeds, roots, leaves, fungi, and the quiet tricks plants use to spread and survive. The full list sits on the Plants and Trees page, where every entry is listed in order.