Do Palm Trees Only Grow Coconuts One at a Time?

Coconut Number

• The coconut palm tree (Cocos nucifera) is in the process of nurturing numerous coconuts at any one time. When fully mature, the tree produces between 50 and 200 nuts annually and grows them year-round. Unlike other trees, the coconut palm has no specific growing period. The Purdue University Department of Agriculture indicates that at any one time, 12 different crops of nuts are growing on the tree, each at a different stage of development, varying from new flower to mature fruit.

Coconut Features

• The coconut fruit grows as long as 15 inches with a width of 12 inches. A hard, hairy husk protects the white flesh -- known as the copra or meat -- inside the nut. A hollowed section holds a collection of watery liquid commonly called coconut milk, which is used in beverages. Approximately 2 cups of liquid will be discovered in an immature coconut harvested after five months of growth; riper coconuts will absorb the liquid into the meat and reduce the available milk of the coconut.

Uses

• Coconut milk is sometimes fermented and made into a beer called a "toddy." In addition to being dried and eaten raw or utilized in candy or baking, the coconut meat -- or copra -- provides an oil that is valued for use in soap, shampoos, cosmetics, cooking oil, margarine, paints, plastics and lubricants. The coconut is also utilized in folk medicine for a wide variety of ailments, ranging from fevers and flu to tumors.

Environment

• Achieving a height of between 50 and 60 feet with a spread of 15 to 25 feet, the number of coconuts that a coconut palm is able to produce at any one time or annually will depend on environment. The tree is considered to thrive best in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 10B through 11, an area that includes only the extreme tropical locales of the U.S. -- specifically south Florida and areas further south including Key West.