In the heart of Praslin, the second largest island of Seychelles, is Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve, the smallest UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world, and the best place to see the prized coco de mer, the largest and heaviest nut in the world. Touted to be the probable Garden of Eden by British army officer Charles Gordon, who visited the area in 1881, the park is home to several endemic species, the most notable being the love nut.
Shaped like a green heart, the outer husk when removed reveals a two-lobed nut that looks like buttocks on one side and a vulva on the other. No surprise then that the nut has always garnered a lot of attention, right from early explorers to botanists, and faces threat of extinction today over its purported aphrodisiac properties.
Just everywhere
Recently, my family and I visited the park to learn more about the nut that followed us everywhere — from the entry stamp on our passports to the name of our hotel, signages to paper napkins at restaurants, the nut was omnipresent.
Even on an island like Praslin that has a thick tree cover, the flora of Vallée de Mai feels different. Trees like takamaka, cinnamon, coconut and mango, found abundantly throughout the rest of the island, are missing here. Except for a winding mud path and a few signages, the 19.5 hectares of primeval forest remains intact. In the midst of towering trees, some as tall as 80 to 100 feet and with leaves so large and broad that barely any sunlight reaches the ground, it is easy to imagine going back in time. The wonder and awe that Gordon possibly experienced as he explored the forest is palpable. Enamoured by the coco de mer, Gordon sent a specimen to Kew Gardens in London along with a detailed illustrated letter highlighting the tree’s intriguing features. According to a Christie’s web page containing his manuscripts, he says it’s a ‘Curious tree in every way, unique among its kind and among trees’, with a nut ‘like a belly with thighs’.
Large triangular leaves
The easiest way to identify the coco de mer from other palms is to look for its large triangular leaves that can grow up to 30 feet in length. It’s a dioecious tree, meaning there are separate female and male trees, and it takes as long as 25 to 50 years for the tree to reach maturity. Male trees are conspicuous by their two to three feet long catkins that bear striking resemblance to a penis. There are legends about the male trees marching up to the female trees to mate on stormy nights, but it’s more likely that a number of endemic forest creatures like geckos and slugs aid with pollination.
‘Mysterious palm’
Before the discovery of Seychelles, coco de mer nuts washed up as far away as the shores of Maldives, where they were considered to be fruits of a mysterious palm growing under the sea. Today, there’s rare chance a nut would float away. There are strict government regulations in place and nut-bearing trees are carefully monitored and guarded. Fallen nuts are collected by the Ministry of Environment, hollowed out, polished and sold as souvenirs for a handsome price, along with a permit.
Efforts are being made to propagate the tree beyond the Praslin and Curieuse islands where they are naturally found. While the results of these initiatives are yet to be seen, there’s no doubt the coco de mer is a steadfast nut, deeply in love with the land it hails from. There’s an unsaid magic at play that ensures these trees thrive and grow in these patches of untouched forests and nowhere else, like they have for thousands of years. Who knows, maybe there is a divine hand involved in creating the love nut.
The freelance writer, based in Dubai, writes about travel, culture and food.
