Source: CRI
08-05-2007 10:44
People take a closer look at a rare Coco-de-mer seed and the male flower and female flower of the Coco-de-mer, in Tianjin Tropical Botanical Garden on Tuesday, July 10, 2007. [Photo: enorth.com.cn]
Two armed soldiers have on Tuesday helped escort a seed from one of the world's rarest plants to a temporary home in northern China's beijing2008.cn/spectators/tianjin/' target=_blank>Tianjin municipality.
Authorities say the seed weighs 13 kilograms and belongs to the largest kind of plant seed in the world, called Coco-de-mer.
It will be on display at the Tianjin Tropical Botanical Garden until mid-October.
The exhibition will also include details about the extinct Coco-de-mer genus. Its purpose is to raise public awareness about protecting nature, the Beijing-based Star Daily reported.
The Coco-de-mer, also called the double coconut, is a palm endemic to some islands in the Seychelles.
Its fruits, which usually require six or seven years to mature and a further two years to germinate, contain the largest seed in the plant kingdom.
Editor:Liu Fang