Coconuts in Medieval Britain (2015)

>Coconuts grew in their native Maldives, in India, and perhaps parts of western Africa and the Middle East

None of the countries mentioned have coconut as native, its originated from the Malay-Polynesia archipelago area. The common name for coconut from Philippines to Hawaii across the Pacific islands is nyiur/niu.

Fun fact, coconut name is a misnomer and it's originated from the Potugese, one of the first European in contact with coconut who thought it's a form of nut but actually it belongs to drupe or stone fruit family [1]. Specifically coconut is from the palm family and its fruit is mainly the kernel. Oil palm has similar kernel fruit but it's native to Africa.

[1] Nightmare Fruit: How the Coconut Got Its Name.

https://medium.com/@sixtybolts/nightmare-fruit-how-the-cocon...

> “Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?”

I think the author of the article missed that this punchline talks about the giant floating seed of a coastal species of plant, that spreads itself by drifting out into the open sea, following the sea currents and eventually finding new islands to colonize. In other words: that coconuts do, in fact, migrate.