diverging from the direction the thread has taken, you don't say what color this fretboard is....the tree that is 'usually' called "Tree of Life" these days is Lignumvitae which is named, not for ancient mystical ideas, but for it's presumed medicinal qualities.

There are 3 or 4 species of this genus, 'guiacum', which grow from south Florida and Mexico thru Central America to northern S. America...it is a VERY dense, hard, resiliant wood which is slightly oily and used for mallets and things like housings for ship's propellors.

Perhaps the fretboard is made from that...(the natural color of Lignumvitae is greenish-yellow to dark brown, may darken with age...