Coco De Mer (Lodoicea) Nut
On offer, a rare, complete specimen, unpolished, approximately 35 cm in length and 25 cm wide. Retailing for around ZAR3000 on the Seychelles tourist market.
These palm trees (now a rare and protected species) were once distributed along the coastlands surrounding the Indian ocean and on Indian ocean islands. The trees have the largest seed in the plant kingdom and the fruit, which requires up to 7 years to mature, and are also referred to as the sea coconut or Seychelles nut. Only about 7,000 trees remain in the Seychelles, with the harvesting of nuts strictly controlled by the that government.
The seed nuts of Lodoicea have been highly prized over the centuries, and their rarity caused great interest and commanded high prices in royal courts (Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor purchased a nut for 4,000 gold florins). In the sixteenth century, nobles would have the shells of these nuts polished and decorated with precious stones. More recently, Prince William and Kate Middleton received a Coco De Mer nut as a wedding gift from the government of Seychelles while on their honeymoon.
In the 19th century, General Charles George Gordon, on visiting the Seychelles in 1881, believed that the Vallée de Mai on the island of Praslin was the original Garden of Eden, and that the coco de mer (with its unusual, erotic shape) was the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, recording that “externally the coco-de-mer represents the belly and thighs, the true seat of carnal desires”.
Please note that goods will only be shipped within South Africa. International bids subject to prior arrangements with the seller.