An Ode to Coco de mer

The virgin forests

of Vallée de Mai

sire a secret

in its palm

a fruit, heavy

with expectation

a primeval seed

seeking inspiration

a heart, voluptuous

erotic, sensuous

holding promise

of genesis

black parrot warbling

songs amorous

green geckos, skinks

an unseemly chorus

a catkin, daggers drawn

the male tree bears

amber inflorescence

ready to strike

a whiff

of zephyr, carries

sweet nothings, whispered

dispersed on air

unseen, unheard

Adam and Eve

Ling and Yoni

mate, untouched

A miracle zygote

Birth of man

Naughty Nature

crafts to perfection

coco de mer seduction

blueprint to human reproduction

Note

Coco de mer is a palm nut (a kind of double-coconut), the heaviest nut anywhere, endemic to Vallee de Mai stretch at the Praslin Island of Seychelles. The Vallee de Mai is a living remnant of the prehistoric forests which existed in the erstwhile Gondwanaland and is one of the two host habitats in the world where this rarest of nuts grows wild. The most astounding part of the real-life lore of coco fesse, as it is also called (fesse is a French word which means ‘butt’!), is thus:

The palm species – Lodoicea maldivica - has separate male and female trees. The female palm bears the nut and the seed within uncannily resembles a woman’s torso. As though that were a mere coincidence, the male tree sends forth catkins which resemble... you guessed it! The male tree is taller than the female and pollination takes place by wind and perhaps, through the medium of geckos that slither on the trees.
These nuts would find their way into the ocean and ancient mariners in their wisdom imagined them to be fruits of some submarine plant species, to be fruits of the sea (hence, the name - in French - coco de mer). Being bulky to the degree of 10- 20 kg, these nuts did not/do not travel far and hence have been preserved in their mother territory.

A few botanical gardens over the world do showcase the palm, but it is a phenomenally slow-growing tree, taking nearly seven years to mature. It is also believed that some of these nuts did travel over the oceans and landed on the Indian coasts and were used as urns or water vessels (kamandalus) by the sadhus!

These ancient palms predate evolution of man!