MYEISTICE^E 173
bird," who in swallowing the fruit digested the mace, but voided the
nutmeg uninjured. The tree has been successfully introduced into
numerous other places, for example, Java, Penang, Bourbon, Zanzibar,
and Singapore.
The following interesting account of this spice is acknowledged to
the Chemist and Druggist:—
l
" The plant Myristica fragrans Houttuyn (N.O. Myristicacece), is a
member of the single genus containing over a hundred species which
comprises this order. It is, however, the only species of Myristica
worth cultivating, the seeds of other species having little or no aroma.
The true nutmeg-plant is a somewhat bushy, medium-sized tree of
pyramidal habit, attaining a height of 30 to 60 ft. In Penang the trees
are somewhat more compact, and not more than 20 or 25 ft. high.
The spreading branches are usually produced nearly to the base of the
trunk. The lanceloate leaves, which have a rather long, pointed tip,
are arranged alternately. They are about 4 ins. long and 2£ ins. wide,
somewhat leathery in texture, and with a dark green shiny upper sur-
face. The trees are usually unisexual, but occasionally they- bear both
staminate and pistillate flowers. The pendulous, shortly stalked male
flowers are produced in small cymes, arising a little above the leaf.
The female flowers are borne in similar positions, but usually not more
than one to three occur in a single influorescence. The light yellow
perianth of the flower is bell-shaped, with three lobes, and encloses
either a column of about twelve united stamens or a conical green
ovary terminating in a pair of white stigmas. The beautiful fruit is a
fleshy drupe, somewhat variable in form, resembling an apricot. The
smooth husk is about half an inch thick and of a pale orange-yellow
colour. It bears a groove down one side, along which it splits open
when the fruit is quite ripe. When the pericarp splits open it discloses
a bright crimson arillus, closely enwrapping the seed. This, which on
drying yields the mace of commerce, is somewhat leathery in texture,
cut into narrow finger-like portions of irregular size. The seed-coat is
deep brown, polished, and marked with shallow grooves corresponding
to the flaps of the mace. Inside this woody and brittle shell is the
kernel, or nutmeg itself, which is about an inch in length. When fresh,
the nutmeg practically fills its testa, but shrinks on drying and then
rattles. Our first photograph gives an excellent idea of the structure
of the fruits and the shape of the leaves.
" Nutmegs are cultivated in plantations from fresh seed sown in the
shell, as they soon lose their germinating power. Seeds that rattle are
rejected. The plants are generally cultivated near the sea, below the
1000 to 1500 foot level. Nutmegs have been grown on soil of widely
different types with remarkable success. In the Moluccas the rich
volcanic soil is a sandy friable loam, with a large proportion of vege-
table matter, while in Penang and Wellesley Province the trees grow
in a yellow loamy clay on the steep slopes of the granite hills; sodden
or excessively dry ground is, however, fatal to nutmegs. The tempera-
ture of Banda ranges from 76° to 92° F., that of Trinidad being some-
what similar; but in the Straits Settlements it is rather less regular.
A rainfall of 90 to 100 ins. per annum, well spread over the different
months^ with dry spells of not more than four or five days' duration, is
' C. and D. (1914), 160.