COCOS, in botany, a genus of the Mo noecia Hexandria class and order. Natu ral order of Palms. Essential character : male calyx three-parted ; corolla three petalled : stamens six; female calyx five parted ; corolla three-petalled : stigmas three ; drupe coriaceous. There are five species, of which C. nucifera, cocoa nut-tree, is common almost every where within the tropics, and is cultivated in both Indies ; it is found in a wild state in the Maldives and Ladrones, also in the islands of the South Seas. The roots are slender, simple, and flexible : they rise separately from the bottom of the trunk, and spread in all directions ; some run ning to a great depth, while others creep almost parallel to the surface. The trees grow to a great height ; their stems are composed of strong fibres, like net-work, which lie in several laminas over each other, out of which come the branches, or rather leaves, which grow 12 or 14 feet long. The flowers come out round the top of the trunk of the tree in large clusters : they are inclosed in a sheath, and the nuts afterwards are formed in large clusters, ten or twelve together.
The fruit is properly a drupe ; the skin is thin and very tough, the substance under this investing the shell is extremely fi brous ; the shell is of a bony substance ; the kernel adheres all round the inner wall of the shell, and the cavity is filled with a milky liquor. Besides the liquor in the fruit, there is a sort of wine drawn from the tree, called toddy, and from which is obtained a spirit called ar rack.
The coat of the tree is composed of strong fibres, which are made into sail cloth, cordage, &c. The trunk of the tree is used in all kinds of building ; and the leaves are wrought into mats, baskets, and many other things, for which osiers are employed in Europe : they serve also as coverings to their houses.
COD. See GADVS.