Back in the 16th century Spices were more valuable than gold with European powers competing for routes to the Spice islands of South East Asia. The only way to reach these exotic islands was to round the southern tip of Africa before crossing the treacherous Indian Ocean. Nutmeg was one of many tropical spices along with cloves, cinnamon, star anise, ginger and pepper which were highly sought after at the time. The nutmeg tree is unique in that we derive two spices from its fruit, the brown seed is grated into a fragrant powder while the waxy aril surrounding the seed is called mace and is much more subtle. Despite the Portuguese being the first to circumnavigate the African continent it was the Dutch which set up a replenishment station in the Cape of Good Hope. The company gardens in Cape Town is a remnant of the rudimentary vegetable garden and fruit orchards which stocked up ships en route to the tropical regions in which these trees grow. Plants like nutmeg have in their own way deeply influenced the history of South Africa in more ways we might think. #plants #spices #spiceroute #myristicafragrans #nutmeg #singapore #southafrica #trees #mace #capetown #fruit #exoticfruit