Flowers That Taste Like Coconut

Edible Flowers

• Though flowers are normally not the most popular part of a plant, they can offer soft texture and pleasing flavors. Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is a spiny, evergreen shrub mostly found in Europe and northwest Africa and is common throughout the UK. Its vivid yellow flowers emit a strong scent of coconut that is often present in mild tones when eaten. The flowers were once brewed for medicinal teas and are still sometimes cooked or used for drinks and flavoring. Use in desserts, dried or fresh, to add a tropical flavor. Gorse also tends to enrich the soil, so it is useful when planning land for agricultural use. Pick with gloves to avoid the sharp spines.

Coconut Flowers

• Coconut flowers do not have a flavor as strong as the meat of the fruit, but they have subtle hints of coconut flavor. The flowers are useful for a variety of cooking purposes. They are boiled down to their inner sap, which is then made into sugar and used to produce syrups, wines and other concoctions. The flowers are often used as a garnish for dishes.

Coconut-Scented Flowers

• The coconut orchid (Maxillaria tenuifolia) is a species native to Mexico and Honduras. It has 1 1/2-inch flowers that smell like coconuts. The flowers are colored in red with yellow speckles and persist for six weeks. They are relatively easy to grow, preferring cooler nighttime temperatures in winter. The smell is described as that of coconut cream pie, and it is strong enough to fill a house.

Coconut-Flavored Plants

• Many other parts of plants have a coconut flavor, such as the purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus). This plant is extremely prolific and the roots that produce new plants are edible. They taste like coconut and are eaten raw, roasted or boiled. Some consider the plant a weed due to its ability to reproduce so well. Identify this plant by its blunt, tapered leaves, purple seedheads and dark green leaves. It can reach 6 inches tall.