A hard, yellowish vegetable wax exuded from the leaves of the palm tree, Copernicia cerifera, native to the arid regions of north-eastern Brazil. The leaves are collected, dried then beaten to remove the wax surface coating. The wax is melted, filtered and bleached with fuller's earth or charcoal. Carnauba wax is harder than beeswax and melts at a higher temperature. Carnauba wax contains ceryl palmitate, myricyl ceretate, myricyl alcohol (C30H61OH) along with other high molecular weight esters and alcohols. Olho wax is a pure whitish grey carnauba wax obtained from young leaves. Refined olho wax is called flora wax. Palha wax is a brownish wax obtained from older leaves. Palha wax can be emulsified with water to form chalky wax. Carnauba is used in varnishes. For stucco marble, wax treatment often followed the application of oil to the surface in order to increase the gloss of an already well polished surface. In these cases carnauba wax was often used, applied to the surface with a linen cloth. Synonyms: Brazil wax; ceara wax; olho wax; flora wax; pahla wax; chalky wax. Wittenburg (1999); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2000). [J. Cassar, R. de Angelis]