Self-sown, wild-type coconuts in the Philippines [Cocos nucifera, cadang-cadang disease]

The coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is so widely cultivated that the continued survival of a wild form of this palm has been doubted. It is possible to test a theory that describes what a wild-type coconut would look like because it also predicts where wild-type coconut palms might still be growing. On the basis of a 50-year-old translation of an unpublished manuscript written in 1668, a particular locality in the Philippines was visited and coconuts of the anticipated type were found. They have characteristics, particularly of their fruit, that make them unpopular with farmers, and they are in a natural situation where they would not have been planted on purpose. This finding has practical implications for coconut genetic resource conservation, and it may also provide insight on the extent of cadang-cadang disease in the Philippines.