The ''coconut pearl'' is alleged to be a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

-produced

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

. Claimed to be the rarest botanical gem in the world, the coconut pearl supposedly grows inside the coconut. However, the existence of these pearls is in dispute, and some claim that published photos are hoaxes. ''Wayne's Word'', the source of much of the descriptive text and photographs used to illustrate coconut pearls on the Internet, writes that "several botany textbooks flatly state that coconut pearls are a hoax because proof of their existence is totally unfounded" and "I prematurely published an on-line note about this "pearl" 'The Maharaja coconut pearl, on display at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida''] in 1996 before I discovered that it did not come from a coconut." They form in roughly one in every million coconuts according to the Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Ripley's believe it or not daily calendar. In Culture of the Philippines, Filipino culture, coconut pearls are used to protect against the Berbalang, a

ghoul A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...

who eats human flesh, In fiction, a coconut pearl is used as a plot point in the acclaimed children's adventure book, Nim's Island (1999) by Wendy Orr.

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