Annatto, also called achiote, is a perennial shrub with dense foliage which has grown since before the Incas. It is also sometimes referred to as urucum, taken from the language of the Tupi people (indigenous tribes from Brazil’s coastal areas) who named it urucu. In the Amazon, natives paint their bodies with it, in particular…
The shea tree, or shea butter tree, is a wild tree in the Sapotaceae family. It grows naturally in Africa only, in the Sudan and Sahelian zones north of the equator. It is mainly present in wooded savannahs and can grow up to 20 metres high. It reaches its maximum production at 50 years of…
Synonymous with tropical beaches, the coconut palm belongs to the Arecaceae family. The tree grows mainly in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia. Adult coconut palms can reach 30 metres in height, with their leaf crowns up to 8 metres wide. Coconut seeds spread via ocean dispersal, but the species was also propagated by humans…
