Clove

the unopened flower bud of an aromatic tropical tree. The name is from the French clou, meaning a nail, suggested by the shape. The clove tree is an evergreen from ten to forty feet in height, native to the Molucca or Spice Islands. Its cultivation has spread to the nearer parts of southeastern Asia, to eastern Africa, to Brazil, and to the West Indies. Cloves formed an important article of caravan south of Good Hope was discovered, Portraffic. When the passage around the tugal got possession of the principal clove-producing islands and held them with inhuman efforts to monopolize a money-making traffic. The cloves of commerce are the dried flower buds. The calyx is about half an inch long with a four-cleft border. The round knob in the center of the calyx is the dried corolla. If allowed to ripen, the fruit resembles an olive. Chambers states that the annual clove production of Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa is 2,000,000 pounds. Cloves are a favorite seasoning in cookery. A bit of clove inserted in the hollow of a troublesome tooth will frequently relieve the toothache. Oil of cloves is obtained by heating cloves in water. It is a remedy for nausea. See Spice; Magellan