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A palm tree which grows in the Rainforests of Ecuador produce a nut or seed called
Tagua Nut (Pronounced: Ta qua).
When the seed is harvested, dried, cut & polished, it resembles the finest ivory in texture & color & is slightly softer than ivory.
(In the late eighteen hundreds up through World War II this ivory nut was used to make some of the finest buttons in the clothing industry. Some were even used on the U.S. Army uniforms).
The palm ivory nut began a come back because of the slaughter & near extinction of mammal ivory (elephants, etc.)
Tagua is used by artesian's in making jewelry, carvings. They can be woodburned, painted etc.
WHAT IS A TAGUA NUT?
"PALM IVORY or Ivory Substitute"
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~ Long ago, the indigenous people of the Rain Forest used to give each member of their clan a Tagua Nut to carry around their necks, believing that the person who wore it would be protected by the love of both family and friends ~
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