Editing Nutmeg (section)

== Botany and cultivation ==
[[File:Myristica Fragrans - ജാതിമരം.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Nutmeg tree (''Myristica fragrans'').]]
The most important commercial species is the common, true or fragrant nutmeg, ''M. fragrans'' ([[Myristicaceae]]), native to the [[Maluku Islands|Moluccas]] (or Spice Islands) of Indonesia.<ref name=nafta>{{cite news |author=Amitav Ghosh |title=What Nutmeg Can Tell Us About Nafta |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/clove-trees-the-color-of-ash.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=December 30, 2016 |author-link=Amitav Ghosh |access-date=April 13, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911120831/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/clove-trees-the-color-of-ash.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dotschkal |first1=Janna |title=The Spice Trade's Forgotten Island |url=http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/22/the-spice-trades-forgotten-island/ |website=National Geographic |access-date=2017-04-13 |ref=forgot |date=2015-06-22 |archive-date=2016-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213171658/http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/22/the-spice-trades-forgotten-island/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is also cultivated on [[Penang]] Island in Malaysia, in the [[Caribbean]], especially in [[Grenada]], and in [[Kerala]], a state formerly known as Malabar in ancient writings as the hub of spice trading, in southern India. In the 17th-century work ''[[Hortus Malabaricus|Hortus Botanicus Malabaricus]]'', [[Hendrik van Rheede]] records that [[Indian people|Indians]] learned the usage of nutmeg from the Indonesians through ancient trade routes.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Nutmeg trees are [[dioecious plant]]s (individual plants are either male or female), which are propagated sexually from [[seed]]s and asexually from [[Cutting (plant)|cuttings]] or [[grafting]]. Sexual propagation yields 50% male seedlings, which are unproductive. Because no reliable method has been found for determining plant sex before flowering in the sixth to eighth year, and sexual reproduction bears inconsistent yields, grafting is the preferred method of propagation. Epicotyl grafting (a variation of [[Grafting#Cleft|cleft grafting]] using seedlings), [[Grafting#Approach|approach grafting]], and [[Grafting#Budding|patch budding]] have proved successful, with epicotyl grafting being the most widely adopted standard. [[Layering#Air layering|Air layering]] is an alternative though not preferred method because of its low (35–40%) success rate.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7–9 years after planting, and the trees reach full production after 20 years.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

In the [[Banda Islands]] where the nutmeg is endemic, there is a [[symbiotic relationship]] between the Kenari nut tree (''[[Canarium indicum]]'') and the nutmeg (''Myristica fragrans''), the former providing the nutmeg with shade and serving as a wind-break from the strong winds.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Tan|author-first=Kim H. |title=Soils in the Humid Tropics and Monsoon Region of Indonesia|publisher=CRC Press|page=[https://www.google.co.il/books/edition/Soils_in_the_Humid_Tropics_and_Monsoon_R/2b7HpNuTHpMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Banda+Islands+nutmeg+and+kenari&pg=PA329&printsec=frontcover 329] |date=2008|location=Boca Raton |oclc=184924770 |isbn=9781420069075 |quote=In the past it was customary to also plant wind breakers for controlling premature fruit falls by the frequent storms occurring during the change of wet to slightly dry seasons, especially on the Banda islands. The Dutch scientists suggested the use of the tall-growing Canarium trees (Canarium commune or indicum), known locally as ''pohon kenari'', because albiza trees, used in tea estates, provide too much shade, which should be avoided in nutmeg farms. Some shade is still necessary, which is provided by the kenari trees that grow 40 to 50 m tall.}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|width=200 | height=130
|align=center
|File:Nutmeg on Tree.jpg|Nutmeg fruit
|File:Nutmeg fruit seed and aril.jpg|Red [[aril]] and seed within fruit
|File:Nutmeg mace.JPG|Aril surrounding nutmeg seed
}}