Vegetable ivory or tagua nut is a product made from the very hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees. Vegetable ivory is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Species in the genus Phytelephas, native to South America, are the most important sources of vegetable ivory. The seeds of the Caroline ivory-nut palm from the Caroline Islands, natangura palm from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the real fan palm, from Sub-Saharan Africa, are also used to produce vegetable ivory. A tagua palm can take up to 15 years to mature. But once it gets to this stage it can go on producing vegetable ivory for up to 100 years. In any given year a tagua palm can produce up to 20 pounds of vegetable ivory.
Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms which is native to tropical regions of South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres (66 ft). Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Stems, leaves and sometimes even the fruit are covered with spines. Plants flower repeatedly over the course of their lifespan and have separate male and female flowers, although these are borne together on the same inflorescence. Although records of pollinators are limited, most species appear to be pollinated by insects. The fruit are eaten by several birds and mammals, including at least two species of amazon parrots.
Syagrus is a genus of Arecaceae (palms), native to South America, with one species endemic to the Lesser Antilles. The genus is closely related to the Cocos, or coconut genus, and many Syagrus species produce edible seeds similar to the coconut.
Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The only currently fully accepted species is Chamaerops humilis, variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms and is used in landscaping in temperate climates.
The palm tree Phytelephas aequatorialis, commonly known as Ecuadorian ivory palm, is the main source of Ecuadorean vegetable ivory or tagua, a botanical alternative to ivory. It is found in the tropical rainforests of the western Andean slopes of Ecuador. It has a woody trunk which can grow to 20 m in height and very long pinnate leaves.
Roystonea is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of the United States (Florida), Central America and northern South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus was named after Roy Stone, a U.S. Army engineer. It contains some of the most recognizable and commonly cultivated palms in tropical and subtropical regions.
Tumaco is a port city and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, and experiences a hot tropical climate. Tumaco is inhabited mainly by Afro-Colombians and some indigenous people.
Phytelephas is a genus containing six known species of dioecious palms, occurring from southern Panama along the Andes to Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, northwestern Brazil, and Peru. They are commonly known as ivory palms, ivory-nut palms or tagua palms; the scientific name Phytelephas means "plant elephant". This and the first two of the common names refer to the very hard white endosperm of their seeds, which resembles elephant ivory.
Calyptrogyne is a genus in the palm family (Arecaceae). The distribution of this genus is Central America, Colombia, and southern Mexico, with 11 of the 17 known species endemic to Panama. Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana is the most widespread and best studied species in this genus.
Attalea is a large genus of palms native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. This pinnately leaved, non-spiny genus includes both small palms lacking an aboveground stem and large trees. The genus has a complicated taxonomic history, and has often been split into four or five genera based on differences in the male flowers. Since the genera can only be distinguished on the basis of their male flowers, the existence of intermediate flower types and the existence of hybrids between different genera has been used as an argument for keeping them all in the same genus. This has been supported by recent molecular phylogenies.
Cryosophila is a genus of medium-sized fan palms that range from central Mexico to northern Colombia. Species in the genus can be readily distinguished from related genera by their distinctive downward-pointing spines on the stem, which are actually modified roots. They are known as the "root spine palms".
Metroxylon amicarum is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, endemic to the Caroline Islands. It was named for the Friendly Islands, now Tonga, from where it was first thought to have descended. It is the only species in the Metroxylon genus which is not hapaxanthic.
Wettinia is a palm genus, consisting of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - W. aequatorialis, W. lanata, W. minima and W. panamensis - were described as late as 1995. The genus is broadly divided into two groups. One group has the fruits tightly packed, while the other, formerly classified as genus Catoblastus, has fruits scattered along the inflorescence branches. It is not known whether these groups are both monophyletic. The genus is named after Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, of the House of Wettin.
Roystonea oleracea, sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly naturalized in Guyana and on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Attalea phalerata is a species of palm tree known by the English common name urucuri palm, the Portuguese common name urucurizeiro, and the Spanish common name shapaja. Other common names include motacu and bacuri. It is native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru, where it grows along southern and western Amazonia. It is the most common palm tree on the Pantanal.
Astrocaryum standleyanum is a species of palm known by many common names, including chumba wumba, black palm, chonta, chontadura, coquillo, palma negra, pejibaye de montaña, güerre, güérregue, güinul, mocora, pucaishchi (Chachi), and chunga (Emberá). It is native to Central and South America, where its distribution extends from Nicaragua to Ecuador. It is most common in central Panama, even becoming "abundant" in the tropical forests around the Panama Canal, but in general it is not a common plant.
Phytelephas macrocarpa is a single-stemmed, unarmed, reclining or erect palm from the extreme northern coastal regions of South America, growing to some 12 m tall. It has been introduced and cultivated in tropical regions all over the world. The trunk is about 30 cm across, with prominent leaf scars. The crown is made up of about 30 plume-like leaves or fronds, each about 8 m long, dead leaves being persistent. It is one of some 7 species of palm in the genus Phytelephas, all of which have been exploited for vegetable ivory or tagua from the seed or corozo nut. The closely related Ammandra decasperma from Colombia, and Aphandra natalia from Ecuador, are also sources of vegetable ivory, but of inferior quality and therefore not commercially significant. 'Phytelephas macrocarpa' translates to ‘elephant plant’ with 'large fruit', the endosperm of the nut having the texture of elephant ivory, and consisting of large, thick-walled cells of two long-chain polysaccharides, mannan A and B.
P. seemannii may refer to a few different species of plant. The specific epithet seemannii refers to someone with the surname 'Seemann,' in many cases it's botanist Berthold Carl Seemann (1825–1871).
Sabinaria magnifica is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus Sabinaria. Native to the Darién Gap on the border between Colombia and Panama, it grows from 1 to 6 metres tall with large, deeply-divided leaf blades. It has been described as "striking", "spectacular" and "beautiful" by taxonomists.
Coccotrypes cyperi, commonly known as seed borer, is a species of weevil with a cosmopolitan distribution.
