Description of the Tagua
The fruits of the tagua or "ivory palm" are large and round or flattened spherical, brown or black color, and in the shape of human head in many examples, they have a diameter from 20 to 50 centimeters. Botanically the fruits of the ivory palm are berries (when mature) or simply large berries of bark gross and fibrous, encloses find a lot of cavities that contain the seeds. All the fruit is maintained by a short but powerful stem, of the one that generally cluster the total weight that arrives to 30 pounds.
The seeds are flattened for the lateral spines, of tests very hard, fragile of dark or blackish color coffee and when not very old covered with a epidermal white cover.
The heart is white and very hard when mature.
The content of the seeds, when the fruit is tender or youth is liquid, of aspect of crystalline color and without flavor, then comply goes maturing itself there is milky, thick like oil and of very pleasant flavor, and something candy for later be returned gummy, gelatinous and at last to be hardened completely and transform in a product and as the ivory and from there the name of vegetable ivory.
Habitat and Area of Distribution
The ivory palm lives preferably in the humid mountains of the Coast and the Amazon and in the low exterior foothills and the Oriental and Western mountain range.
The ivory palm is found since the sea level, in Esmeraldas to the 1800 meters above sea level in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas; but, is frequent or abundant since the 400 to 600 meters above sea level, to the 1500 above sea level. They can be found deep in the mountains.
Large quantities of ivory palm in the valleys of descent of the Western mountain range in the province of Bolivar, where themselves him appreciation chiefly by their durable leaves for them roofed of the houses. In the western sectors of the province of the Azuay and Canar exists ivory palm but so is not exploited. In the province of Manabi there is abundant quantity you ivory palm to the long of the rivers, in the river valleys and in the truly humid forests.
Since the commercial point of view, the production and commercialization of the Ecuadorian ivory palm is important (The Equator is the main producer and exporter of the world). Previous from epochs to World War Two, the Equator has occupied a noticeable place in the export of the ivory palm without skin, large quantities of this product have been envoys to Europe and United States it is estimated that the ivory palm of the Equator is the best of the world.
The ivory palm has been respected an alternative in the utilization of the seed in the industry of buttons, and then various uses as the making of given, ornamental articles, decorative craft, pieces of chess, canes and other articles of domestic use. All these objects remain manufactured elegantly utilizing this commodity, the facility with which can be sawed it, to carve, to polish and that is absorbent to any material colorant.
Since the beginnings of the industrialization of the ivory palm, it is appropriate for the manufacture of buttons and still is this its main use. In recent years the industry jeweler has come utilizing more and more the ivory palm for the making of small busts and other articles but veneers in gold and silver. All these uses influenced in the increased of the demand of this seed in all the epochs.
