While the wild cinnamon trees reach considerable heights, the cultivated plants are cut so regularly that they almost always throw up a lot of young shoots from the roots, and it is the bark of these that furnishes the spice. When the bark is fit for peeling, the natives cut off the shoots, and strip the bark from them by hand, but with a specially constructed knife. After removal the bark is kept moist and in a day or two the outer skin is scraped off and the bark stretched over a stick, to form the familiar pipes or quills of cinnamon. These are graded, cut to uniform length, and after drying are ready for shipment. All of this is as yet hand work.
Other spice plants and condiments are of wide use, but can scarcely be mentioned in detail here. A few of the more important are the following:
| Name | Derived from the | Native |
| Allspice or pimento | Unripe fruits of Pimenta officinalis Pimenta officinalis | West Indies. |
| Cassia bark | Bark of Cinnamomum Cassia | Eastern Asia. |
| Black pepper | Fruit of Piper nigrum | Tropical Asia. |
| Cardamoms | Fruit of Elettaria Cardamomum | Malabar. |
| Capsicum or Cayenne pepper | Fruits of species of Capsicum | Tropical Asia. |
| Coriander | Fruits of Coriandrum sativum | Europe. |
| Cumin | Fruits of Cuminum Cyminum | Mediterranean region. |
| Dill | Fruits of Peucedanum graveolens | Europe and northern Africa. |
| Ginger | Rootstock of Zingiber officinalis | (?) |
| Turmeric | Rootstock of Curcuma longa | Tropical Asia. |
| Mustard | Seed of Brassica nigra and alba | Old World. |
| Thyme | Foliage of Thymus vulgaris | Southern Europe. |
| Caraway | Fruit of Carum Carui | Europe. |
| Caper | Seeds of Capparis spinosa | Southern Europe and Asia. |
This brief review of what the plant world provides us with in the shape of foods, beverages, fibers, drugs, rubber, spices, and tobacco, does not begin to tell us what man’s debt to plants really is. Thousands of plants, used by natives all over the world, may well provide future generations with unsuspected sources of plant products. No mention has been made of timbers nor all the forest products, except paper, which in the aggregate total an enormous sum. Perhaps no better idea of the tremendous value of plants, of the absorbing interest their utilization has always had for man, can be gained than to refer the reader to incomparably the best book on the subject, so far as tropical plants are concerned. Sir George Watt, in his “Dictionary of the Economic Products of India,” a book of several volumes, most of which deals with plants, has left an imperishable record of man’s struggles to tame the wild plants of the forest to his needs.
A few more economic plants not yet noted are listed below, and with this our account of plants as they are used by man must close: