A Panama hat or just Panama is a traitional brimmed hat of Ecuadorian origin that is made from the plaited leaves of the toquilla straw plant (Carludovica palmata). Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas, and Europe. For some products, the name of their point of international sale rather than their place of domestic origin stuck, hence “Panama hats.” The 49ers picked up these hats in Panama, and when President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal construction, he wore such a hat, which increased its popularity. They're also known as a Jipijapa, named for a town in Ecuador once a center of the hat trade. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a use of the term as early as 1834.