Can you guess???

[Merlin]

Can you guess the name of this tree?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Carnauba.jpg

HINT: For those of you that live in South Florida they are everywhere.

[DapperDon]

I can, I have large ones like this in my development. These are carnauba palms.

[donbeezy]

I can, I have large ones like this in my development. These are carnauba palms.

so I can grind these things up and rub it on my paint?!

[DapperDon]

Nah, your technique is all wrong. You have to put the car in gear and then drift against it for full coverage so you don't get swirl marks. Although I do think the leaves will leave some light marring.

[fdresq4]

I can tell you that we don't have those in N.J....:p

Steve

[Merlin]

I can, I have large ones like this in my development. These are carnauba palms.

Yepper that's the palm leaves it's made from.

http://www.carnaubadobrasil.com/en/img/08.jpg

Carnauba, also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the palm Copernicia prunifera, a plant native to the northeastern Brazilian states of PiauÃ*, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Norte.

http://www.carnaubadobrasil.com/en/img/09.jpg

It is known as "queen of waxes" and in its pure state, usually comes in the form of hard yellow-brown flakes.
It is obtained from the leaves of the carnauba palm by collecting and drying them, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching the wax.

http://www.carnaubadobrasil.com/en/img/10.jpg

July to February is harvest season, the collection of the green leaves of carnauba palms are made by the natives that use a long stick with a cutting knife on the tip.

The carnauba leaves are spread over the ground and dried up in order for the powder to be removed by the ancient procedure of beating the leaves.

After that, the powder obtained from the beaten process is melted and squeezed in a wooden claw.
This primitive process is done by exporters that extract the powder with solvent extractor equipment.

Then, the cooling is made on flat tanks where the product is broken into "lumps" with colors that ranges from light yellow to dark brown.
This is the crude wax, ready for the manufacturing process at the exporters plant.