Vegetable ivory

{{{annotations}}} Vegetable ivory or tagua nut is a product made from the very hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees.

Vegetable ivory is naturally white with a fine marbled grain structure.

Species in the genus Phytelephas (literally "elephant plant"), native to South America, are the most important sources of vegetable ivory.

[6] Vegetable ivory has been used extensively to make dice, knife handles, and chess pieces.

[1] Many vegetable ivory buttons were decorated in a way that used the natural tagua nut colour as a contrast to the dyed surface, because the dye did not penetrate deeper than the first layer.