DESCRIPTION

Nutmeg is the seed, or kernel, of a tall tropical evergreen tree native to the Moluccas, the Spice Islands. Today, it is also cultivated in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies—Grenada is one of the largest producers—and in the Indian state of Kerala. Nutmeg has long been used for medicinal purposes in China, India, and Arabian countries. By the sixteenth century, it was valued in Europe
as both a spice and a curative—and it, as well as mace, was considered an aphrodisiac.