Coconut varieties from farmer's fields in Vietnam

A very rare coconut with flat spikelet own by a farmer of Ben tre in Mekong Delta,
photographed in 1998 by R. Bourdeix

and....

... The same farmer (and coconut) photographed in 2016,
18 years later by R. Bourdeix - Nice to meet you again!

Back from the seed garden, we saw a farmer's plantation planted with a variety of Green Aromatic said to be imported from Thailand. This variety is not a dwarf type. On the stems, the distance between 11 leaf scars is about 45 to 50 cm, and the growth is comparable to those of King coconut variety in Sri Lanka. So all aromatic varieties are not Dwarf-types. Aromatic tender nuts are sold by farmer at farm border 2 pieces for 1 USD, when simple tender nuts from non-aromatic Green Dwarf or Tall are sold 4 pieces for 1 USD.

Aromatic Green, but not Dwarf type....

In the Ben Tré region, close to the site of the ancient "Coconut religion", we found a coconut variety which seems to be a Tall-type; it has special inflorescences characterized by very short spikelets in the distal part. The inflorescence has some similarities with those of the Tacunan Green Dwarf, a variety from the Philippines.

1. Inflorescence of the new Tall-type found in Ben Tré

2. Tacunan Green Dwarf from the Philippines

3. "Normal" shaped inflorescence of a Brazilian Green Dwarf 

New Tall-type found in Ben Tré

Yellow Makapuno Dwarf with thick meat photographed
by IOOP researcher in a farmer's field

Fruit of the progeny obtained from the Makapuno Yellow Dwarf
by embryoculture and planted in Trang Bang