While in the Seychelles, visit to Vallée De Mai palm forest in Praslin is a must. One goes there to see, coco de mer (sea coconut), formally Lodoicea, palm trees with the largest seed in the plant kingdom. Another interesting fact is that coco de mer belongs to a dioecious species with male and female flowers on different plants.
The gender of the tree can only be determined after it matures and begins to produce flowers. Male trees have inflorescences, female trees have fruits in shape of double coconut. Coco de mer trees are found only in two neighboring islands in the Seychelles. The reason lies in the nut that is too dense to float. Only rotted out nuts can be found on the sea surface and can float as far as the Maldives.
