Eye On The Rainforest - Puerto Rican Sustainable Hardwood Forest Products

Created by Nature - Enhanced by 3t Vakil

Giant Tree-Fern or Helechos gigante (Cyathea arborea) and Blue Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus)
			Tree-ferns are among the most beautiful plants of tropical mountains and grow abundantly in Puerto Rico. Tree-fern trunk is not divided into bark and wood like most trees. It has a bony, smoothish-dark outer layer, often covered with smaller plants, such as mosses, liverworts, ferns, and many black roots projecting from the enlarged base. There is a central white pith, that contains a ring of brown bundles which serve for conduction and strength. The breath-taking natural pattern of these rings, is manifested only when the trunk is sliced.

Though not solid wood, the hard trunks are durable and resistant to decay and termites. The Carib Indians used the stems to preserve and carry fire embers, which can be maintained for hours without smoke or flames. Elsewhere, trunks of tree-ferns have served as posts, frameworks of houses, supports for vanilla plants and other orchids, and as waterbars for drainage along mountain trails.
No trees were cut down to create these pieces. Tree-ferns tend to grow on steep banks and can fall easily in very heavy rain or winds. Minimal disturbance is caused by taking a small section from a fallen tree and letting the rest decompose naturally. These pieces have all dried for two years and are created into objects for use, by taking the pith out and cleaning the core. Minimal carving enhances the natural patterns.

			The base of each piece is made from the tropical hardwood, Blue Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus), grown at Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment & Sustainable Forestry Project Rainforest management, emphasizing sound ecological practice and economic sustainability in Patillas, Puerto Rico. All pieces are signed. No two pieces are the same.

Once cleaned and carved, 3t Vakil's paintbrush brings into sharp focus the astounding patterns of the Tree-fern. Each piece is finally coated with a sealer, and the Mahoe base is polished to a natural glossy shine. Used as holders for all kinds of things, dried flowers, office desk items, artists paint-brushes, to kitchen utensils and more, these In-fern-os from the tropical rainforest are not only unique and beautiful, but useful too. To Purchase contact 3t. See MORE products from the rainforest Talk about the rainforest... See The Artwork of 3t Vakil
Ref: Frank H. Wadsworth & Elbert L. Little, “Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands”
www.eyeontherainforest.org ...making preservation and conservation more attractive than destruction...