Jackfruit or coco de mer in disguise? |08 August 2009

But when she gave it a second look, a surprised employee of Praslin’s Development Bank realised it was a jackfruit in the shape of the famous nut.

According to local legend in years gone by, the male coco de mer trees visit the females of their species at night for mating, and one wonders if perhaps one of the trees lost its way, was just mischievous or if the jackfruit simply changed its shape by some quirk of nature.

“The night was probably too dark for the coco de mer to see where it was going, or maybe the jackfruit was cheating,” a secretary who saw the picture said.

“I would really appreciate it if someone could tell us how this jackfruit ended up with the shape of a coco de mer,” wrote the banker who sent us this picture.

She said she hopes some expert will shed more light on the issue.