CLOVES
(Eugenia Caryophyllata of Caryophyllus Aromaticus)
1 Zanzibar
2 Amboina
3 Penang
4 Bencoolen
5 Calyx
6 Calyx
7 Flowering stem with leaves
CHAPTER X
CLOVES
Your unexpanded flower buds fair
Hold for us flavors fine and rare,
Welcome your petals in our home,
’Though Nature choose you should not bloom.
CLOVES are the unexpanded flower buds of Eugenia Caryophyllata of Caryophyllus Aromaticus, a tree belonging to the natural order Myrtacca, and are named from the French word clou, signifying nail, which it sometimes resembles.
The French word, Girofle Cloux de Girofle; German, Gewurzuelken; Persian, Meykuk; Sanskrit, Lavunga; Arabia, Kerunful; Bengalle, Lung; Malay, Chankee, Lawang; Portuguese, Cravos da India; Chinese, Thenghio; Java, Wohkayu, Lawang; Hindoo, Laung.
It is indigenous to the Molucca or, as they are frequently called, the “Spice Islands.” It was originally confined to five of these islands, viz: Tidor, Ternate, Motir, Batian, and Kian, but chiefly to the last. These constitute a string of islands westward of the large island Gilalo and, strange to say, the clove tree does not appear to do well on the large islands, such as Gilalo and Ceram and Celebes. It is probable that Booro and the Xula Isles constitute about the western limit of the successful culture of the clove. Although it is a native of small islands, it will not do well too near the sea where it receives much moisture, or at a high elevation where it is cold. Sloping loam land is best, where there is no stagnant water, 1,000 feet elevation being the limit.