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Cananga odorata (ylang-ylang) ranges from the tropical parts of eastern India through Malaysia to the Philippines. The name of the plant, which means “flower of flowers,” derives from the exceedingly delicate and evanescent fragrance of the yellowish green, bell-shaped flowers. The fragrance is highly valued in the manufacture of perfumes. Ylang-ylang, or cananga, oil is derived by simple distillation from the petals of fully opened flowers. Although the tree blossoms throughout the year, the flowers picked in May or June yield the highest amounts of cananga oil. Long known to the peoples of East Asia, this oil first reached Europe about 1864.
In the upper Amazon region, Indian tribes use an extract from the tree Unonopsis veneficiorum to tip their poison blowgun darts and arrows; this substance has a similar paralyzing effect on humans and other animals to that caused by curare, which is obtained from the genus Strychnos of the family Loganiaceae.
Although many trees in Myristicaceae, or the nutmeg family, reach timber size, the wood is not of much value in world trade. Nevertheless, Dialyanthera otoba (otobo), Iryanthera sagotiana (marakaipo), and Virola koschnyi (banak) from tropical regions of South and Central America, Pycnanthus kombo and Staudtia gabonensis from West African countries, and Myristica irya (chuglum) from the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal find local use in the manufacture of furniture, millwork, flooring, and general carpentry.
By far the most important plant in this family is Myristica fragrans, a native of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in the Indonesian Archipelago but which is now grown in the tropics of both hemispheres. The seeds of M. fragrans are the source of nutmeg and mace. While these spices are still exported from Indonesia, the greatest production today is in the West Indies, principally the island of Grenada.
Myristica fragrans is a handsome evergreen with dark leaves that reaches a height of 9 to 18 metres (30 to 60 feet). The small, yellow, fleshy flowers are unisexual, and the plants producing them are dioecious—i.e., the male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The ripe fruits are golden-yellow and resemble apricots or pears. As the fruits dry out, they split open, revealing a single shiny brown seed covered with a bright red fleshy structure called an aril. Inside the seeds are the kernels, which are the nutmegs of commerce; the aril is the source of mace. The pulverized seed finds much use for seasoning such food items as spiced fruits, sausages, pastries, puddings, and eggnog. Mace is one of the most delicately flavoured spices and is used in making baked goods, pickles, ketchups, and sauces. Nutmeg and mace contain myristicin, a substance poisonous in large amounts. Myristicin is described by some as a hallucinogen. Nutmeg butter is derived from the seeds and is used in ointments and in candles.
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