Coconut Trivia
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This coconut trivia quiz has 45 free questions with answers and covers the palm the Philippines calls the tree of life: why a coconut is technically a drupe, how it got a name meaning 'skull', how Austronesian sailors carried it across two oceans, which countries grow most of the world's 65 million tonnes, and what copra, coir and toddy actually are. It also stops at coconut water and oil, the giant robber crab that climbs palms, macaques trained to harvest, the coco de mer's record seed, Mardi Gras coconuts, the piña colada, Bounty bars, lamingtons, macaroons, Malibu and the much-repeated myth that falling coconuts kill 150 people a year. Easy questions suit family and tiki-night quizzes; the harder ones on botany and production will test food and plant geeks. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 45 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Botanically, what kind of fruit is a coconut?
A drupe
A drupe, like a peach or olive, is a fruit with a fleshy layer around a hard stone; the coconut's fibrous husk is that layer and the shell is the stone.
Q 02The name coconut comes from Portuguese coco, a word for what?
A grimacing face
A grimacing face: coco also meant a goblin used to scare children, and the three dark holes at the base were said to look like its eyes and mouth.
Q 03Which trio of countries grows most of the world's coconuts?
Indonesia, India and the Philippines
Indonesia, India and the Philippines grow about three-quarters of the world's coconuts, and a Marcos-era levy on Filipino coconut farmers helped pay for the lavish Coconut Palace.
Q 04What is dried coconut flesh called?
Copra
Copra is the dried kernel of the coconut; pressing it yields coconut oil for cooking, soap and cosmetics, and the leftover cake feeds livestock.
Q 05What is the fibre from a coconut's husk, used in doormats and rope, called?
Coir
Coir comes from a Malayalam word for cord, and because the fibre resists seawater, sailors long used it for ships' ropes and rigging.
Q 06Which sea creature carries coconut halves to use as shelter?
Veined octopus
Veined octopus: it stacks the halves, carries them off and later fits them together as a hiding place, which scientists described as defensive tool use.
Q 07Coconut crabs can turn deadly to eat after feeding on which tree's fruit?
Sea mango
Sea mango: its kernels carry heart-poisoning cardenolides, and in New Caledonia two people died after eating crabs thought to have fed on the fruit.
Q 08Which future president sent a rescue message on a coconut?
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy: after his patrol boat sank in 1943, he scratched a message into a coconut, and his stranded crew was later rescued.
Q 09Which people domesticated the coconut and spread it by sea as far as Madagascar and the Pacific islands?
Austronesians
Austronesians: on long sea voyages coconuts gave them portable food and water.
Q 10Which explorer recorded the coconut as nux indica while in Sumatra?
Marco Polo
Marco Polo, passing through Sumatra on his way home from China, recorded the coconut as nux indica, Latin for Indian nut, the name the West used until Portuguese coco displaced it.
Q 11Which Swedish scientist gave the coconut palm its scientific name, Cocos nucifera?
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus named it in Species Plantarum, the 1753 book botanists later made the official starting point for plant names.
Q 12Peter Barss's 1984 report on falling coconuts later won which tongue-in-cheek award?
An Ig Nobel Prize
An Ig Nobel Prize: his Papua New Guinea study mentioned two anecdotal deaths, a figure later misquoted as 150 a year worldwide.
Q 13Which animals are trained in southern Thailand to climb palms and pick coconuts?
Pig-tailed macaques
Pig-tailed macaques: in 2019 the animal-rights group PETA investigated the practice undercover and objected to it.
Q 21The piña colada was proclaimed the official drink of which island in 1978?
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico: San Juan's Caribe Hilton says its bartender created the drink in 1954, while the Barrachina restaurant claims a 1963 invention.
Q 22Which coconut-filled chocolate bar is made by Mars?
Bounty
Bounty: in 2022 Mars trialled Celebrations tubs without it after finding that nearly 40% of people disliked the bar.
Q 23The coco de mer, or double coconut, holds which botanical record?
Largest seed of any plant
The coco de mer has the largest seed of any plant, and its nuts are too heavy for wind, animals or the sea to carry far.
Q 14The coconut crab, or robber crab, holds which record?
Largest living land arthropod
The coconut crab is the largest living land arthropod, up to about 4 kg, and its mighty claws let it hunt hard-shelled prey such as other crabs.
Q 15Which Minangkabau dish simmers beef in coconut milk until almost dry?
Rendang
Rendang: slow-cooking the beef until the spiced coconut milk dries out preserves it, and the drier it gets, the longer it keeps.
Q 16Why does coconut oil turn solid in a cool kitchen?
Saturated fat
Saturated fat makes up most of the oil, which is why the WHO groups coconut oil with butter and lard among fats to limit.
Q 17Coconut water is harvested mainly from which coconuts?
Young ones
Young ones: as a coconut ripens its water is gradually absorbed into the flesh, so drinking nuts are picked green and full-sized.
Q 18In India the coconut palm is called kalpa vriksha, after a mythical tree that does what?
Grants wishes
Grants wishes: the palm earned the name because nearly every part of it is useful, from its water and oil to its leaves and wood.
Q 19Which strong spirit is distilled from fermented coconut-flower sap in Sri Lanka?
Arrack
Arrack: tappers bruise the palm's unopened flower stalks to collect sweet sap, which ferments quickly and is then distilled into the spirit.
Q 20What is the name of the Hawaiian coconut pudding served at luaus?
Haupia
Haupia is coconut cream traditionally set with pia, Polynesian arrowroot, though cooks today often use cornstarch instead.
Q 24The Australian lamington is thought to be named after a governor of which state?
Queensland
Lord Lamington was Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901; the most repeated story has his French chef, Armand Galland, improvising the cake for unexpected guests.
Q 25Macaroons, now often made with coconut, were originally made from what?
Ground almonds
Ground almonds: because macaroons need no flour or leavening, they became a popular Passover treat.
Q 26Malibu, the coconut-flavoured rum liqueur, was made on which Caribbean island as of 2025?
Barbados
Barbados: in 2002 Diageo had to sell Malibu to Allied Domecq to win US antitrust approval for its Seagram deal.
Q 27Hand-decorated coconuts are the prized Mardi Gras throws of which New Orleans parade club?
Zulu
Zulu: its early coconut throws were plain, straight off the tree, and painted, glittering ones later became the prized version.
Q 28The traditional British fairground game in which players throw balls at coconuts is called what?
Coconut shy
A coconut shy sets coconuts on posts; knock one off with a thrown ball and you keep it, 'shy' being an old word for throwing.
Q 29Pacific coconuts reached Mexico in the 16th century aboard which ships?
The Manila galleons
The Manila galleons ran between Manila and Acapulco, and the know-how for tuba, a coconut palm wine still sold in western Mexico, came with them.
Q 30Which phytoplasma disease, spread by planthoppers, threatens coconut palms in Florida and the Caribbean?
Lethal yellowing
Lethal yellowing: growers fight it by planting palms it can't readily infect, since sick palms rarely recover.