LODOIOEA SEYCHELLARUM. Labillard.
Nux medics, Cocos Maldivica. Darya ka narel, . DEKH. Cocos de Maldives, PORT. Sea cocoanut, . . ENG. Ubdie narikaylam, SANSK. Double cocoanut, . ' , Kaddel taynga, . Tam. Cocos de mer, . . . Fn. SIAMUdTaTU-tenkflia, TEL.
The double cocoanut tree of the\ Seychelles is a palm which attains a height of 80 or 90 feet. When preserved whole, and perforated in one or two places, the nut serves to carry water, and some of, them hold six or eight pints ; and by slicing theme in different directions they are formed =into plates, dishes, drinking cups, etc., known in the islands as Vaisselle de lisle Prasten. The Muhammadan fakhs of India use it as a. scallop. The crown of the trunk is eaten like the American cabbage palm. The down attached to the young leaves serves for filling mattresses and pillows ; the ribs of the canes and fibres of the petiole are fabricated into baskets and brooms, and the young canes are plaited to form hats. Germinating nuts were sold in London in 1854 for a-piece.
Many fabulous accounts were formerly related respecting the Lodoicea 'Seychellarum, such as, that it was produced at the bottom of the sea, the nuts being only found thrown up on the coasts of the Maldive Islands. They were called Coco de
Maldivia, or Coco de Salomon, by the early Portuguese navigators. Many marvellous medical virtues were ascribed to these nuts by the physi cians of the age, both Asiatic and European, and they were consequently sold at a high price. The tree yielding them was first noticed by Barre, a French officer of engineers, in 1697, then described by Sonnerat, but for the first time accurately described by Labillardiere in Ann. Mus., Paris, ix. p. 140, t. 13. To the inhabitants, the tree is useful for its timber, which is hard externally, and employed in building their huts and for posts; the leaves and their footstalks are used for the roof, walls, and partitions, and for many other domestic purposes. The nuts weigh from 23 to 25 lbs. each, and when fresh contain a white, transparent, and jelly-like substance, which is edible. The shells are employed in making vessels and dishes of various kinds ; and the entire nuts form articles of commerce, as they are esteemed in other countries both for their fabled virtues and as curiosities.