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Phytelephas aequatorialis
Also called Ecuadorian Ivory Palm, Ecuadorian Tagua Palm
Ecuadorian ivory palm is a tall, woody-trunked palm of wet tropical rainforest in western Ecuador, valued for its hard seeds (tagua or vegetable ivory). It is a large rainforest tree rather than a typical houseplant, so it needs consistently warm, humid, shaded-to-bright conditions to grow.
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 metres (66 ft) tall, and has very long pinnate leaves.
The palms are occasionally cultivated as a cash crop. International conservation organizations pay farmers for vegetable ivory in hopes that interest in the product will lead to resources being allotted for the protection of rainforests and the preservation of its flora.
Due to its commercial usefulness, the trees were usually preserved when rainforest was cleared for agricultural use.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phytelephas aequatorialis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
