Cocos nucifera like petrified fruit from the Tertiary of Amarkantak, M.P., India

Abstract

Description is given of a petrified coconut like fruit measuring 13 x 10 x 6 cm collected from the Tertiary sediments of Amarkantak (M.P.), India. The fruit wall is thick and differentiated into a narrow epicarp, a wide fibrous mesocarp and a sclerosed thick endocarp. The seed coat is 3-4 cells thick, adhered to, or free from the endocarp. The pulp or endosperm of the seed is made of loosely arranged thin walled parenchyma. This is the first report of a C. nucifera like petrified fruit from India.