... in the Americas before Columbus arrived. Coconuts can be found in any lowland tropical and subtropical region around the world. They thrive where annual precipitation is low and around beaches because coconuts are not affected by salt water of the ocean, like most other plants. Coconuts use the tides of the ocean to their benefit by helping them disperse and germinate, as mentioned above. Their origin was the Indian Ocean region, but, because of their dispersion methods, coconuts can be found around the world. The palm tree naturally dispersed itself into Africa, Central America, and other tropical beach regions. Coconuts were intentionally grown in the Pacific Basin, in order to aid travelers from the Americas to southeastern Asia. They were actually used by some explorers as markers in order to assist them in their journey to southeastern Asia. Currently, coconuts grow in Africa, Polynesia, North America, South America, southeastern Asia, India, ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now