are coconuts actually nuts?

Question

i'm pretty sure i heard they weren't, but if they're not nuts whar are they?

Answer 1

Not an easy question, because some of these words have a technical meaning as well as the meaning your granny would expect.

To a botanist, a fruit is "the product of a fertilised ovary".

My dictionary tells me that a vegetable is just a plant which is eaten (either whole or in part) by humans.

To a botanist, a nut is a "dry, indehiscent, single-seeded fruit with a hard woody wall".

Now, when I read the information in another record I find that the whole coconut including the outer coir fiber coating is a "fruit". The coir fiber (which is removed where the coconuts grow before being shipped to our shops) is the ovary wall.

I wouldn't call it a vegetable, but it does fit the dictionary definition.

I guess that the object you buy in the shops (or win at a fairground) is not quite a typical "nut", because the "wall" is the original coir fiber, but I don't think many people would dare to contradict you if you called it a nut. Technically, you could call the coconut (as sold in shops) a "seed" - but you will see that even the experts in are not sure where the "testa" or seed coat is!
;-)

Answer 2

Botanically, a coconut is a simple dry fruit known as a fibrous drupe (not a true nut).

When viewed on end, the endocarp and germination pores resemble the face of a monkey, the Portuguese word for which is macaco, sometimes abbreviated to coco, hence the name of the fruit. The specific name nucifera is Latin for nut bearing.

In some parts of the world, trained monkeys are used to harvest coconuts. Training schools for monkeys still exist in southern Thailand. Competitions are held each year to discover the fastest harvester.

So its a fruit..

Answer 3

Though its name suggests that it is a nut, I've always regarded coconut as a fruit. When the coconut is young, it has properties like fruit, and as it matures, it becomes more nutty. But in fact it is not a nut or a fruit; it is a seed.

Answer 4

I think a nut is the fruit of a tree, so wouldn't a coconut be?

Answer 5

A coconut has the properties of a fruit when it's young but it's actually a seed. When it matures, it drops from the tree and spawns a green shoot after a few months.

Answer 6

Palm trees are very closely related to grasses. The coconut is a very large seed that is produced by the coconut palm. They called it the coconut because of its nutty cocoa like flavor.

Answer 7

Yes, they are! If you have a nut allergy for exampke, coconuts are out of bounds!

Answer 8

They are nuts and belong to the family gonadsasbigasafut.

Answer 9

They call them nuts because like nuts they have filling that can be eaten like a nut....

Answer 10

coconuts are defined as nuts,if you dont believe me look in the dictionary.