Skip to main content

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Dlium Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Pala or nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is a plant species in Myristicaceae, an evergreen tree originating from the Banda Islands in Maluku, has a high value as a spice, fruit and seeds and has been an important trading commodity since Roman times.

M. fragrans has a height of 5-20 m or even 30 m in Tidore. The leaves have a 1 cm stalk, arranged alternately, in the shape of a slender ellipse, 5-15 cm long, 2-7 cm wide, a sharp tip, a bone in the middle with many sideways veins, the upper surface is shiny dark green and the lower surface is pale green.





Male and female flowers grow on different trees, although sometimes individuals produce both types of flowers. Bell-shaped flowers, pale yellow and fleshy. Staminates are arranged in groups of up to ten, each 5-7 mm long. The carpels are in smaller groups, one to three and slightly longer up to 10 mm.

Karpelat produces fruit that is ovoid, yellow, smooth, 6-9 cm long and 3.5-5 cm in diameter. The fruit has a fleshy skin and has a distinctive aroma due to the essential oil content. When ripe the rind will split into two parts along the ridge that runs along the fruit.

The fruit that has opened will reveal the seeds. A seed is brownish purple and shiny, 2-3 cm long by about 2 cm wide and has a red covering. Seeds are a great source of nutmeg. Seeds contain 7-14% essential oil.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Myristicaceae
Genus: Myristica
Species: Myristica fragrans Houtt. in Nat. Hist. 2(3): 333 (1774)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Palala fragrans (Houtt.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 567 (1891)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aruana silvestris Burm.f. in Ind. Alt.: G, verso (1769)
Myristica amboinensis Gand. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 225 (1919)
Myristica aromatica Sw. in Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ.: 96 (1788)
Myristica laurella Gand. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 225 (1919)
Myristica moschata Thunb. in Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Handl. 1782: 49 (1782)
Myristica officinalis L.f. in Suppl. Pl.: 265 (1782)
Myristica philippinensis Gand. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 225 (1919)

PUBLICATIONS

Karthigeyan, K., Pandey, R.P. & Mao, A.A. (eds.) (2023). Flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2: 1-689. Botanical Survey of India. Ministry of environment, forest and climate change.

Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Santisuk, T. & Larsen, K. (eds.) (2002). Flora of Thailand 7(4): 655-920. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2008). Flora of China 7: 1-499. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (2000). Flora Malesiana 14: 1-634. Noordhoff-Kolff N.V., Djakarta.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Nutmeg, Pala, Nutmeg tree
Halmahera: Gosora
Indonesian: Pala, Phala
Makassar: Palangana
Nias: Falo
Nusa Laut: Palalao
Timor: Palo
Tindore: Masiho

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DliumWeb: https://www.dlium.com
Labels:

Popular Posts

Pink jewel dragonfly (Heliocypha fenestrata)

Pink jewel dragonfly ( Heliocypha fenestrata ) is an animal species in Chlorocyphidae, a dragonfly 40-45mm long, slender, predominantly black with bright pink and blue, flies swiftly, large eyes, very long wings, lives near fresh flowing water and waterways. H. fenestrata has a black body with an upper back decorated with three plots of squares in pink and a similar plot on the nape of the top. The sides to the bottom are decorated with plots in light blue. A pair of large, round and black eyes. The tail is long and segmented, cylindrical, predominantly black with several plots of light blue color at the base of the sides, the tip ends with two small tails and curves inward. The legs are jointed and are all black. The wings have a span of up to 80 mm, contain many pulse lines, elliptical tips, are dark and transparent, when exposed to sunlight they give off pink or green or blue or white reflections. Pink jewel dragonfly lives near freshwater ecosystems that flow and low light inten...
Read more

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....
Read more

Glombang (Lentinus squarrosulus)

Glombang ( Lentinus squarrosulus ) is a species of fungi in Polyporaceae, umbrella-shaped, strong pole, round, chewy and fleshy stamp, white with gray spots forming rings, scaly, growing on wood in tropical regions, fast growth of mycelia used for food and nutraceuticals. L. squarrosulus has a 1.5-10 cm long cap, the surface is convex inward until compressed with a slightly bumpy, jagged margin, initially white to brown at maturity. The bottom surface of the cap has gills, crowded, narrow, white to yellow with rough edges. Stems 20-60x4-10 mm, running to the center, pointing downward, upright or crooked, hairy to scaly, partially creamy veils leaving a ring or light zone towards the top of the stem which may disappear in age or the veil may remain intact and cover the gills. Pileus is thin, tough, fibrous and white. Spores are cylindrical, smooth, nonamiloid, 6-9,52.5x-3.5 μm and white in color. It grows singly but is more common in groups on fallen tree trunks, especially coconut...
Read more