Coconut Palm

Badami, Karnataka

This tree is being visited by pollinating insects (not quite visible at the resolution of the photo) who receive pollen from the anthers (long brown strings), and transfer it to fertilize the embryonic fruit (small globes, behind the anthers). The action is taking place in the upper center of the photo. In the lower center is the result of this process: a cluster of previously fertilized, and now green and ripening, coconuts.