The coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family, Arecaceae. Originally native to the Central Indo-Pacific, in the regions of Maritime Southeast Asia and Melanesia, coconuts are now found across the world due to human cultivation and dispersal. They are normally cultivated in hot and wet tropical climates. The term coconut also commonly refers to the seed and fruit of the coconut tree, which is botanically a drupe. The fruit has three layers including an edible white, fleshy endosperm and is filled with a liquid known as coconut water. The coconut thus played a critical role in the migration of Austronesian peoples across the Indian Ocean, as it provided a portable source of both food and water for long sea voyages. In modern times coconuts are used extensively in cooking and cuisine, using the raw flesh, the water or in alternative forms such as coconut milk and coconut butter. This photograph shows a whole and a halved coconut fruit, grown in the Domincan Republic.Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus