What is Corozo?
Our Corozo buttons are made in Panama from the seeds of a tropical palm tree called the Corozo Palm or Tagua Palm (pronounced Ta-qwa or Tah-gwa). This material is also commonly referred to as Vegetable Ivory because of its similarity in appearance to the ivory of elephant tusks.
The Corozo Palm's seed pod (fruit) is large, reaching about a full foot in diameter. It is mid to dark brown in color and completely covered with hard spikes. Each pod is composed of many clusters, with each cluster containing about 4 to 6 cavities. While growing and maturing, these cavities fill with fluid that eventually hardens into a solid white substance we call the Corozo nut or Tagua nut.
This nut is surprisingly versatile, and is an ideal nature-produced material for buttons because it can be easily pressed, cut, heated, lasered, bleached, dyed, and polished. If you look closely at many of our Corozo buttons, you can often see the natural grain of the Tagua nut.