There is also a kind of wild cinnamon, or cassia, which grows in Cuba, but its taste resembles more that of cloves than of cinnamon. CLOVES Interesting History With Illustration Showing Flower, Bud and Fruit--Where Grown and Commercial Uses Cloves are dried, unopened calyces or flower buds of the clove tree, Caryophyllus aromaticus, a kind of myrtle, a native of the Molucca islands. In commerce they are chiefly distinguished by their place of growth and rank in the following order: Penang, Bencoolen, Amboyna, and Zanzibar. In addition to these there enter into commerce as secondary products, clove stalks and mother cloves, or the dried ripened fruit. The bulk of these secondary products are shipped from Zanzibar. The clove tree is an evergreen, 15 to 30 ft. high. It has a thin smooth bark and adheres closely to the wood, which is a gray color and of little use. The leaves are 3 to 5 in. long. The upper side and foot-stalk is red, shading to a dark color, while the under surface is green. The flowers grow in small bunches at the extremities of the boughs, very like the flower-buds of the lilac tree, and all are of a delicate purplish color. The calyx is long and forms the seed sack. As the blossoms fade the calyx changes color from yellow to red. If allowed to remain on the tree after this the calyx swells like that of the rose. In this state it loses its pungent properties and is called mother clove, and is practically of no value as a choice spice. The cultivated trees are kept pruned to about 8 or 10 ft. in height. [Illustration] The harvesting of the flower-buds commences immediately after they assume a bright red color. Such blossoms as can be reached are plucked by hand, while those that grow on the upper branches are beaten down with bamboo poles and caught in clothes spread beneath the trees. They are then dried in the shade or by hanging on hurdles over slow wood fires--they lose about half their weight in the drying process. They are usually finished off in the sun, which gives them a darker color. The quicker they are dried the less the loss of aroma. Good cloves have a strong aromatic smell, a hot, spicy taste and a light brown or tan color. The season for harvesting is from September to March. A 10-year-old tree yields about 20 lbs. of cloves a year, the yield increasing up to 100 lbs. for a 20-year old tree. Penang cloves are from the Straits Settlements. They are large, plump and of a bright color. Amboyna cloves are not so large as the Penang and are of a dark brown color. Zanzibar cloves are smaller than the Amboyna, a bright reddish color and generally very dry. Pemba cloves are small and dark in color and mostly arrive in a damp condition, and therefore lose weight if kept long.