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Phytelephas macrocarpa
Also called Ivory Palm, Tagua Palm, Large Fruited Ivory Palm, Large Fruited Tagua Palm
Ivory nut palm is a single-stemmed palm from northern South America, growing up to about 12 m tall, valued for the hard ivory-like seeds (tagua) it produces. It is grown in tropical regions elsewhere and is best suited to humid, warm, lowland conditions.
Phytelephas macrocarpa is a single-stemmed, unarmed, reclining or erect palm from the extreme northern coastal regions of South America, growing to some 12 m tall. It has been introduced and cultivated in tropical regions all over the world. The trunk is about 30 cm across, with prominent leaf scars. The crown is made up of about 30 plume-like leaves or fronds, each about 8 m long, dead leaves being persistent. It is one of some 7 species of palm in the genus Phytelephas, all of which have been exploited for vegetable ivory or tagua from the seed or corozo nut. The closely related Ammandra decasperma from Colombia, and Aphandra natalia from Ecuador, are also sources of vegetable ivory, but of inferior quality and therefore not commercially significant.
The genus Phytelephas is essentially northern South American and grows along the Caribbean coastal lowlands of Colombia and Panama, and the Pacific coastal lowlands of Ecuador and Peru. Phytelephas species usually occur on low-altitude alluvial soils in river valleys where soil temperatures are greater than 18 °C, but P. macrocarpa can also be found up to some 1,200 m altitude. All species prefer humid and shady areas, and rainfall exceeding 2,500 mm per year, though P. macrocarpa is also found on dry, steep slopes in northeastern Colombia. On seasonal floodplains, Phytelephas forms large stands known as taguales in Colombia and Ecuador - flooding rivers distribute the heavy seeds along the floodplains. Rodents, such as pacas (Agouti paca) and agoutis (Dasyprocta), eat the fleshy mesocarp, carrying the seeds in and beyond the floodplains.
When ripe, the fruit which has formed on the female tree, breaks apart and the woody epicarp covered in spines disintegrates, allowing the nuts to fall to the ground. Their orange fleshy mesocarp covering is eaten by rodents and some nuts are buried in caches. Nuts are collected from the ground, and taken for processing in sacks or baskets. The principal use of the tagua palm is of the vegetable ivory of its seeds. This is hard and dense with an attractive cream colour, which, on polishing, compares favourably with true ivory. Tagua softens when soaked, dissolving completely when immersed in water for long periods, but recovering its hardness on drying. The contents of the immature fruit are liquid, with a sweet flavour and used as a refreshing drink. The fronds are used as thatching for native huts. The nuts polish and dye readily, being used for a large variety of items. Its most lucrative use was for the production of buttons for the clothing industry.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phytelephas macrocarpa 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.
