Label the Parts of a Coconut – Worksheet With a Key

All 10 parts on the diagram

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The fruit cut in half 7

Skin (exocarp) The thin, hard outer skin of the fruit. Botanists call it the exocarp.
Husk (mesocarp) The thick layer of fibers, called coir. Botanists call it the mesocarp.
Shell (endocarp) The hard, woody layer around the seed. Botanists call it the endocarp.
Seed coat A thin brown layer between the shell and the meat.
Meat (endosperm) The white part people eat. It is the solid endosperm of the seed.
Coconut water The clear liquid in the hollow. It is the liquid endosperm.
Embryo The baby plant, a small peg in the meat under one eye.

Eyes and sprout 3

Eyes (germination pores) Three pores at one end of the shell. Two are plugged and one is soft.
Coconut apple (haustorium) A spongy ball that grows from the embryo and fills the hollow.
Shoot It pushes out through the soft eye and the husk. Then it grows up.

How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-09-30 against sources read that day; a name is kept only when two of them use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Coconut, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut (the fruit a drupe with three layers: the exocarp, the glossy outer skin; the mesocarp, a fiber called coir; the two together the husk; the endocarp the hard shell, with three germination pores on one end, two plugged, the eyes, and one functional; inside the shell a thin brown seed coat; the liquid endosperm, coconut water, and the solid endosperm, coconut meat; the small cylindrical embryo in the solid endosperm below the functional pore; on germination the embryo pushes out of that pore and forms a haustorium in the hollow, which absorbs the solid endosperm; the palm's pinnate leaves, smooth trunk and fibrous roots). (2) Library of Congress, Everyday Mysteries, Is a coconut a fruit, nut or seed?, https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/agriculture/item/is-a-coconut-a-fruit-nut-or-seed/ , read in the Internet Archive copy (a fibrous one-seeded drupe with exocarp, mesocarp, a fibrous husk, and endocarp, the hard woody layer round the seed; the endosperm the white part that is eaten; three pores, also called eyes; a shoot emerges from one of the pores and is fed by the endosperm; loosely a fruit, a nut and a seed). (3) Edward Chan and Craig R. Elevitch, Cocos nucifera (coconut), Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry, 2006, https://agroforestry.org/images/pdfs/Cocos-coconut.pdf (from outside in: exocarp, a thin hard skin; the mesocarp, a fibrous husk; hard endocarp shell; white endosperm kernel; a cavity filled with liquid, water; three micropyles or eyes, one soft, marking the embryo; in the germinating seed, the haustorium, often named the apple; germination shown by the shoot coming through the husk; a crown of fronds on a single unbranched stem). (4) Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agritech Portal, Coconut botany, read in the Internet Archive copy, https://web.archive.org/web/20230627223453/https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/horticulture/horti_pcrops_coconut_botany.html (the fibrous outer layers the husk; the endocarp very hard, forming the shell; a thin seed coat; the white flesh and the liquid both endosperm). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain curves; own work, nothing traced. The layers are thicker than life. Licence: own work

How it works

To label the parts of a coconut, write a name on each numbered line. Seven numbers are on the fruit cut in half, from the skin in to the embryo. Three more are on the eyes and a sprouting coconut.

Read the full guide

Coconut worksheet word bank

In alphabetical order, to copy onto the board: coconut apple, coconut water, embryo, eyes, husk, meat, seed coat, shell, shoot, skin.

Skin or husk, shell or seed coat

The skin (1) is the narrow band around the outside, and the husk (2) the wide band of fine fibers under it. The shell (3) is the hard band around the nut, the seed coat (4) the thin band just inside it, and the meat (5) the pale band inside that. Coconut water (6) fills the lower part of the hollow. The embryo (7) is the small peg in the meat. Below, the eyes (8) are the three round marks, the coconut apple (9) the dotted ball and the shoot (10) the stalk with two leaves.

When marking, also take coir or fiber for the husk, flesh or kernel for the meat and sprout for the shoot.
For a shorter sheet, set Start from to The fruit cut in half: seven numbers, with the eyes, coconut apple and shoot left faint.

Questions and answers

What color is a coconut?

The outer skin is usually yellow-green to yellow-brown. Inside the shell, the thin seed coat is brown and the meat is white.

What is the difference between coconut water and coconut milk?

Coconut water is the clear liquid in the hollow of the fruit, number 6 on the sheet. Coconut milk is not a part of the fruit. It is pressed from grated coconut meat.

Where does the name coconut come from?

From coco, a 16th-century Portuguese word meaning head or skull. The three marks on the shell, the eyes, give the impression of a face.

How long does a coconut take to ripen?

About a year. Whole mature coconuts are 11 to 13 months from flowering. Green coconuts, sold for their water and soft meat, are younger, at 6 to 8 months.