#coco de mer

[martysimone]

Coco de Mer | Arletta • in emerald botanical embroidery + silk | Elysian Collection • Fall Winter 2026-27

[mehanjodidootravez]

Elena Müller by © Rankin

[luvvp4mela]

𝘗𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘤𝘰 𝘋𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘢 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 2017 - ౨ৎ

[osplanetasdasabelhas]

Vallee de Mai

Praslin

Seychelles

Fotos Carlos J. Martins Nobre

[womblegrinch]

Coco de mer palm tree nut. Collected c.1960.

13.4 x 9.5 x 5.1 inches, 34 x 24 x 13 cm. Estimate: CHF 1,000-1,200.

Sold Koller, Zurich, 17 June 2024 for CHF 2,000 incl B.P.

The coco de mer is a rare palm tree found on only two islands in the Seychelles. The nut is the largest seed in the world with some weighing 40 lb or more. Its suggestive form has made it a must-have for curiosity cabinets for hundreds of years. There are now strict controls on the exportation of the nuts from the Seychelles to deter nut poachers, viable seeds being forbidden. Tourists can leave with a hollowed-out seed with the necessary paperwork.

[celebratingwomen]

Pamela Anderson for Coco de Mer, 2017

[fromthedust]

Coco de Mer

In centuries past the Coco de Mer (Lodoicea maldivica) was known only from empty or rotted pods that had floated across the waters from the then-uninhabited Seychelles Islands, located in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar.

The coconuts falling from the trees which ended up in the sea would usually be carried eastwards by the prevailing sea currents to the Maldives (whence their name).  As the un-germinated nuts are heavier than water they cannot float, so the species habitat is limited to their native islands. 

On the tree, the coconut is a giant green orb, but inside, with the outer husk removed, it closely resembles a pair of female human buttocks.  Because of this resemblance one of the archaic botanical names was Lodoicea callipyge, in which callipyge is from Greek words meaning ‘beautiful buttocks’.  In modern Seychelles creole, the fruit is called 'coco fesse’ — which crudely translates as 'butt nut’.  Because of their unique shape and size (the largest nut in the world) the shells of these nuts have been prized by many cultures for centuries, and the species habitat is now part of a world heritage site and the sale and harvesting of the nuts is carefully monitored.  

The nut can weigh up to 45 lbs., it takes two years to germinate, and seven years from the fertilization of the female fruit until their maturity.  The trees can grow to be either male of female, and the female tree can bear fruit for the first time when it is about twenty-five years old, though it takes about one-hundred years for the female palm to reach her full mature height of 100 feet or so.  The male trees grow about twenty-five percent taller.

[takeoffmysundress]

pamela anderson by rankin for coco de mer, 2017