THE AMBOINESE HERBAL Book II. Chap. I.

Contrary to the nature of other trees, as soon as some redness appears here and there on the Clove, or the flower opens itself, then these fruits are mature and complete for human use, but by no means for nature's; for humans require only the semi-mature fruit fit for aromatic use, whereas nature requires the perfected fruit serving for propagation.

If the Cloves are red and have cast off their flowers, a flat and square little head appears at the top with a certain circle, and in this a small and soft point; then the fruits must be gathered with all effort and haste. For if they remain on the tree for two or three weeks longer, then this Clove fruit acquires a large belly, and those four angles in the head contract themselves, and it takes on a green color again, and grows into a larger mass than before, as thick as a thumb joint, and finally becomes dark brown. Inside it contains a hard kernel or stone like the fruit of the Laurel original: "Lauri fructus"; likely referring to bay berries, which is divided into two segments by a curved line, of a dark yellow or tawny color like Amber, which is the true seed of this tree. Hence such fruits are called Mother Cloves original: "Caryophylli matres" / "Moernagels", which are covered with a dark brown or blackish flesh, the thickness of a knife, and have lost almost all their aromatic power, and in flavor most closely match the wild Jambos A type of rose-apple, with which tree, as well as with another called Caju-mera, our Clove tree has great similarity; moreover, that raw flesh is also edible.

These Clove fruits sit upon short stems, three of which are supported together by other shorter stems, and these are always opposite each other, forming a perfect cross with the subsequent pair. Each larger stem, as was said, is divided into three other smaller ones, and on each of these are three Cloves, so that the entire cluster is adorned with at least nine fruits, but commonly fifteen and nineteen, and in a larger cluster twenty-one or twenty-five Cloves are found, since besides the ordinary triple number, other solitary fruits grow out at the side. The Cloves sitting on the highest branches, which cannot be picked, although they are few, remain on the tree until maturity, called "mothers," and having fallen under the tree and touching the ground, they strike small roots and produce new little trees, in which the split Clove, or that "mother," appears raised two fingers above the earth.

The wood of the tree is hard and heavy, but not of an elegant color, for it has a greyish color mixed with yellow, unattractive and not fit for cabinet-making. The roots are fixed very deeply and straight down into the earth, wherefore in the transplantation of young trees one must take care lest that middle and larger root the taproot be broken, since otherwise no hope of growth remains, unless the tree being transplanted is taller and larger, in which case it does not cause such harm even if that larger root is injured.

There is little difference between the Cloves growing here in Amboina, since almost all have the same form, and most turn red when they are mature. However, those who attend to them accurately can observe three species: first, the common one turns a little red when mature; the second is a little smaller, but more of a blood-red color, and is therefore called by the Amboinese Bugularwan Kiri, after the red color of the Lory bird, called Kiri by the Amboinese; this is mostly found on the Hitoe coast near the village of Affaloelo, as also in rarer places of Leytimora. The little trees of this species are more widely spread and give more Cloves than the common one. The third species, which is called the female, bears white fruits that turn only slightly red, but they are larger than the others, such as are found in the Larique region. All these three species or varieties are equally good and aromatic, but the last is most fit for burning for oil. Some Cloves are also found adorned with five or six points, but these are not to be held as a different species, since they grow among the other Cloves. Nor should it hinder anyone that Avicenna A famous 11th-century Persian physician in Book 2, Chapter 311, divides the Clove into male and female, calling the common Cloves females, and the thick mothers (commonly called Anthophyllos) the male fruits; since he was doubtless deceived by the irregularity of form and the size of these fruits, believing the fruits to be from two different trees. Nor should anyone wonder that this learned Arabic writer was mistaken, nor better versed in the knowledge—