List of largest seeds

Lodoicea maldivica, native to the Seychelles Archipelago, found in the Indian Ocean.

The largest seed in the world is the coco de mer,[1][2] the seed of a palm tree.[3] It can reach about 12 inches (30 cm) long, and weigh up to 40 pounds (18 kg). The coco de mer, a giant, dark brown seed,[4] has been protected by the government of the Seychelles because of its rarity.[5] The coco de mer tree can grow up to 100 feet (31 m) tall, with leaves measuring 20 ft (6 m) long and 12 feet (3.6 m) wide.

The list

Other recorded largest seeds include:[6]

Seed image Species Family Length in inches Length in cm weight
Coco de mer Lodoicea maldivica The Palm Family. (Arecaceae or Palmae) 12 in 30 cm 18 kg (40 lbs).The single largest Lodoicea seed found to date was one weighing 25 kg (55 lbs)reported by Stephen Blackmore et al.[7]
Coconut Cocos nucifera The Palm Family. (Arecaceae or Palmae.) 6 inches 15 cm The Andaman Giant Coconut (C. n. gigantea) of the Andaman Islands can have a volume of up to 427 cubic in (7,000   cu. cm), corresponding by extrapolation to a weight of about 8 lbs (3.6 kg).[8]
Mora[9] Mora oleifera or M. megistosperma The Senna Family. (Caesalpinaceae) 7 in by 6 in by 3 in 18 cm by 15 cm by 8 cm. 2.2 lbs. (1000 grams)[10]
East Indies Palmyra Borassus sundaicus The Palm Family (Arecaceae or Palmae). 2.2 lbs (1 kg)[11]
African Palmyra Borassus aethiopum The Palm Family (Arecaceae or Palmae). Up to 4.29 inches long by 3.15 in wide by 2.24 in broad. Up to 10.9 cm long by 8 cm wide by 5.7 cm broad.[12]
Caroline Ivory Palm Metroxylon amicarum The Palm Family. (Arecaceae or Palmae) Circa 4.5 inch diam (round) Circa 11 cm 1 lb. 4 oz (560 grams).[13]
Muli Melocanna baccifera Graminae or Poaceae 3.9 inches long [14] and nearly as wide. Ten cm long and nearly as wide. 12.33 oz (350 grams)[15]
Also called "Mora" Mora excelsa The Senna Family Caesalpinaceae 5 in long by 2.75 in wide. 12.5 cm long by 8  wide.[16] 8.8 oz (250 grams).[17]
Tea Mangrove. [18] Pelliciera rhizophorae The Tea, or Camellia Family. (Theaceae) 4 in diam. (round). 10 cm diam. 7 oz (200 grams).
Bornean Ironwood, or Belian var. "Tanduk" Eusideroxylon zwageri variety exilis The Laurel Family. (Lauraceae) 6.3 in long by 2 in diam. 160 mm long by 5 cm diam.[19]
Pohon Kira-kira Xylocarpus granatum The Mahogany Family. (Meliaceae). Tetrahedral seeds four inches on a side. Tetrahedral seeds 10 cm on a side. [20]
Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense The Spicebush Family. (Calycanthaceae) 3.1 in 8 cm[21] 7.9 oz. (225 grams)[22]
Avocado Persea americana The Laurel Family. (Lauraceae) 3 in 7.6 cm The varieties "Anaheim", "Nabal" and "Nimlioh" are most likely to have seeds of this size.
Paco Grias tessmannii Monkeypot Family (Lecythidaceae) 3.2 in long by 2.5 in wide.[23] 8 cm long by 6.5 cm wide.
California Buckeye Aesculus californica The Horse Chestnut Family. (Hippocastanaceae) 2.88 in width, 2.63 in breadth and 2.13 in height.[24] 7.32 cm width, 6.68 cm breadth and 5.41 cm height 5 oz (140 grams)
Fatra Cycas thouarsii Cycadaceae 2.75 inches long by 2.3 inches wide and broad. 7 cm long by 6 cm wide and broad. [25] The largest of all living gymnosperm seeds.
Mango Mangifera indica The Sumac Family. (Anacardiaceae)
Peach Prunus persica The Rose Family. (Rosaceae) 2 in 3 cm

See also

References

  1. ↑ Quest The World's Largest Seed A KQED Multimedia Series Exploring Northern California Science, Environment and Nature.
  2. ↑ BGCI plants for the planet Our work Coco de Mer Investigate Coco de Mer on the BGCI Plant Search Database
  3. ↑ Fruit trivia Coco de mer - Q
  4. ↑ Britannica E. Coco de mer Double coconut
  5. ↑ "Coco de Mer (Management) Decree | Seychelles Legal Information Institute". www.seylii.org. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  6. ↑ Jenifer Corr Morse (1 November 2011). Scholastic Book of World Records 2012. Scholastic Inc. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-0-545-33149-4. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/2012/687832/
  8. ↑ K.P.V. Menon and K.M. Pandala, "The Coconut Palm - A Monograph" (Ernakulam, Kerala, India: The Indian Central Coconut Committee, 1958) pp. 96 & 98.
  9. ↑ Elbert L. Little and Robert G. Dixon, "Arboles Communes de la Provincia de Esmereldas" (Rome: UNFAO, 1969) p. 222
  10. ↑ Daniel H. Janzen, "Costa Rican Natural History", (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1983) p. 281.
  11. ↑ Chris Gray, "The Townsville Palmetum", THE PALM JOURNAL # 175 (March 2004)p. 30.
  12. ↑ http://palmweb.org/?q=cdm_dataportal/taxon/d0967a60-22aa-497d-a61e-b6796c5c30fb
  13. ↑ James C. McCurrach, "Palms of the World" (Stuart, Fla.: Horticultural Books, Inc., 1980 reprint - orig 1960) p. 139.
  14. ↑ http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/data/grasses-db/www/imp06238.htm
  15. ↑ Daniel H. Janzen, "Why do Bamboos Wait so Long to Flower?", ANN. REV. ECOL. SYST. Vol 7 (1974) p. 9.
  16. ↑ Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information # 8 (November 1, 1932) p. 397
  17. ↑ Victor C. Quesner and T. Francis Farrell, "Native Trees of Trinidad and Tobago" (Port of Spain: T & T Field Naturalists Club, 2000) p. 86.
  18. ↑ http://www.mangrove.at/mangrove/english/species/pelliciera_rhizophorae.php
  19. ↑ Yukitoshi Kimoto et al, "Embryology of Eusideroxylon...etc",BOTANICAL JOURNAL of the LINNEAN SOCIETY Vol. 150 # 2 (February 2006) p. 190.
  20. ↑ Margaret Percival and John S. Womersley, "Floristics and Ecology of Mangrove Vegetation in Papua New Guinea", BOTANICAL BULLETIN # 8 (Lae: Dept. of Forests, 1975) p. 90.
  21. ↑ Franks, P. J. and P. L. Drake (2003). "Desiccation-induced loss of seed viability is associated with a 10-fold increase in CO(2) evolution in seeds of the rare tropical rainforest tree Idiospermum australiense." New Phytologist 159(1): 253-261.
  22. ↑ Will Edwards et al, "Idiosyncratic phenomenon of regeneration...etc", AUSTRAL ECOLOGY Vol. 26 # 3 (June 2001) p. 254.
  23. ↑ Elbert L. Little and Robert G. Dixon, "Arboles Communes de la Provincia de Esmeraldes" (Rome: UNFAO, 1969) Illust p. 437 plus caption p. 436.
  24. ↑ Personal observations and measurements made in Riverside, California on November 27, 2015. This is the largest of all temperate (non-tropical) seeds.
  25. ↑ Robert K.F. Pilger, "Cycadaceae", NATURLICHEN PFLANZENFAMILIEN (Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1926) 2nd Auflage Band 13 p. 69.
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