Black Palm or Royal Palm is found mainly from the coasts of South America.  Trees are usually harvested as a byproduct from plantations growing coconuts.  The color can range from a reddish brown to a deep black.  The lighter colored veneer is typically sprinkled with darker quills, whereas the black palm has lighter, almost grayish white quills.

In terms of hardness, the “red” palm tends to be softer than the black palm, which is very dense. In either case, the veneer is produced from a block that is formed by gluing slices of the log back together after trimming the edges, somewhat similar to the way composite veneers are produced actually. Once the blocks are formed, they are re-sliced into thicknesses typically ranging from just over 1 to 2mm thick.  Once sliced, the leaves of the veneer are further processed by a belt sander, which sands the veneer down to the desired thickness.