There are several varieties, and that which is considered
superior is the yellow species, called the "king cocoanut." I
have seen this on the Maldive Islands in great perfection. There
it is the prevailing description.
At the Seychelles, there is a variety peculiar to those islands,
differing entirely in appearance from the common cocoa-nut. It
is fully twice the size, and is shaped like a kidney that is laid
open. This is called by the French the "coco de mer" from the
large numbers that are found floating in the sea in the
neighborhood of the islands.
The wood of the cocoa-nut tree is strong and durable; it is a
dark brown, traversed by longitudinal black lines.
There are three varieties of toddy-producing palms in Ceylon;
these are the cocoa-nut, the kittool and the palmyra. The latter
produces the finest quality of jaggery. This cannot be easily
distinguished from crumbled sugar-candy which it exactly
resembles in flavor, The wood of the palmyra is something similar
to the cocoa-nut, but it is of a superior quality, and is much
used for rafters, being durable and of immense strength.
The kittool is a very sombre and peculiar palm.
