Elaeis guineensis Elaeis guineensis Elaeis guineensis is a species of palm commonly called African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola and The Gambia; the species name "guineensis" refers to the name for the area, Guinea, and not the modern country which now bears that name. The species is also now naturalised in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Central America, the West Indies and several islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The closely related American oil palm "Elaeis oleifera" and a more distantly
Wesson cooking oil Wesson cooking oil Wesson cooking oil is a brand of vegetable oil manufactured in Memphis, Tennessee and sold by ConAgra Foods. Historically, Wesson was cottonseed oil, but as of 2009 the products sold under the Wesson brand are oil mixtures that may include canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil or sunflower oil. Wesson was originally a trademark of the "Southern Oil Company", named after David Wesson (1861–1934), a food chemist at the firm who, in 1899 developed a novel process for deodorizing cottonseed oil, producing the first commercial all-vegetable shortenings from cottonseeds. This new product was marketed as "Snowdrift". The