EcuadorianHands.com

fverac September 8th, 2007

ORIGINS.- In tropical and humid mountains of Ecuador exists a singular plant called Tagua, also known as Exotic Ivory or Vegetable Ivory after their morphology to palms. Although botanically is not a Palmácea, it belongs to the family of the Ciclantáceas. Their scientific name it is Phytelephas Aequatorialis. Phytelephas comes of the greek Phyton=plant and Elephas=ivory. Which means: plant of ivory or vegetable ivory.

Tagua grows in wild forms of the forests called “taguales”. Tagua, Corozo, Exotic Ivory or Vegetal Ivory, is the cellulose almond complex of the seed of Phytelephas of white color, eburnean, hard, heavy, smooth and opaque that acquires shine when is polished, odorless, insipid; but it is not elastic nor incorruptible like true ivory. The plant takes of 14 to 15 years from seedtime until collecting first fruits and it produces interruptedly every year for even centuries. It offers 3 harvests per year approximately. It is calculated that a specimen of two meters of high does not have less than 35 to 40 years of age. The ciclantáceas well developed can produce 15 to 16 heads annually, also known as mocochas. In each mococha are collected approximately 20 seeds (nuts) of fruit.

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