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King coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a variety of coconut, native to Sri Lanka where it is known as Thembili (Sinhala: තැඹිලි). Sweeter than regular coconuts, there are several sub varieties of the king coconut-the most common being the "red dwarf" (kaha thambili, commonly referred to as gon thambili). The other variety is "ran thambili", a smaller variety containing about forty nuts in a bunch. The king coconut tree is shorter than coconut trees, and are found commonly growing wild in many areas of the country.
King coconut water has been used in Ayurveda. One of the most common uses is a mixture of Aralu powder (Myrobalans) added to the water of one king coconut.
This Aralu brew according to Sri Lankan ayurvedic practitioners (also known as veda mahattayas) has the necessary properties to "expel heat from the body" therefore resulting in a feeling of freshness.
Sri Lanka now exports packaged king coconut water.
There are many cultivated coconut varieties found in Sri Lanka. Most of them are underway through national coconut research institute. According to a research carried away, they identified these varieties during a recent coconut germplasm exploration mission in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
Coconut in Sri Lanka is currently classified into 15 different coconut forms grouped under three varieties, namely 'Typica', 'Nana' and 'Aurantiaca'. The visual morphological features of several new coconut morphotypes were characterized with the objective of including them in the taxonomic classification of coconut in Sri Lanka.It is also found in some parts of Kerala, here it is known as (Chomana Thenga) or red coconut.