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Vegetal
ivory...
a.k.a. TAGUA or COROZO, comes from the nut of a palm tree
(Latin name : Phytelephas Macrocarpa).
It grows in the palm forests of Equatorial America
(in Ecuador, Peru, Columbia and Panama) between 300 and
500 meters above sea level. |
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on photograph to enlarge it |
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At the crown of this palm tree grows a large fruit called MOCOCHAS,
which contains – like chestnut husks – 30 to 50 seeds
or nuts of various sizes and shapes.
Once picked and dried in the sun for several months, the inside
of these nuts becomes as hard and white as ivory, hence its name
of VEGETABLE IVORY. Each palm tree produces 20 kg of seeds every
year.
The use of this material provides work and income for entire villages
and causes no harm whatsoever to the ecological system.
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