Of course its history is unknown and it is
impossible to decide whether all the tall and dwarf forms, or starchy
and sweet varieties, dented or rounded kernels, and hundreds of others
are older than culture or have come into existence during historic
times, or as some assume, through the agency of man. But our main point
now is not the origin, but only the existence of constant and sharply
differentiated forms within botanical species. Nearly every cultivated
plant affords instances of such diversity. Some include a few types
only, while [82] others show, a large number of forms clearly separated
to a greater or lesser degree.
In some few instances it is obvious that this variability is of later
date than culture. The most conspicuous case is that of the coconut.
This valuable palm is found on nearly all tropical coasts, in America,
as well as in Asia, but in Africa and Australia there are many hundreds
of miles of shore line, where it is not found. Its importance is not at
all the same everywhere. On the shores and islands of the Indian Ocean
and the Malay Archipelago, man is chiefly dependent upon it, but in
America it is only of subordinate usefulness.
In connection with these facts, it abounds in subspecies and varieties
in the East Indian regions, but on the continent of America little
attention has as yet been given to its diverging qualities.
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