48 
EUGENIA CARYOPHYLLATA. 
The Clove Tree."" 
Class IcoSANDRiA. — Order MONOGYNIA. 
Nat. Ord. HESPERiDiiE, Linii. Myrti, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Calyx 4-parted, superior, persistent. Petals 
four. Berry one-celled, one-seeded. 
Spec. Char. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, entire. Panicles 
axillary and terminal. 
It is strange that so little should be known of the history of this 
elegant and powerful aromatic, as to leave it a matter of conjecture 
whether it was known to the ancients or not. Such however appears 
to be the case; it is difficult to discover it in any of the writings of 
the Greeks, nor does Pliny even give any distinct account of it. 
The name is evidently Greek, and some writers of the present 
day suppose it to be the K«pvd(|)uAAfi: of the Greeks, and according 
to others, the description of the Charumfel Bellum of Avicenna, 
and the Carunfel of Serapion is applicable to it.f It is indeed 
highly probable that this spice, as well as the nutmeg, was, known 
to the Arabians, who are said to have been the first to introduce the 
clove into Europe ; and it is scarcely possible to imagine that so 
valuable a tree should be indigenous to India and remain unknown 
to the Greeks and other nations, who, either for the purposes of 
war or commerce, were in constant communication with it. Indeed 
we should rather suppose that the clove tree was more generally to 
be met with formerly, than it is in the present day, and that it was 
not only a native of India, but of Egypt and other parts of Africa. 
At present, however, it is considered merely of Indian growth, or 
rather of the Molucca Islands in the Indian Ocean. J These islands 
were tirst discovered by the Portuguese, under Magellan, in 1615 ; 
but were not taken possession of by them for fifty years after : at 
* Fig. a. the fruit, neai l}' ripe. b. Longitudinal section of the fruit, c. Back aud 
front view of a stajHeii. d. A petal, e. The stjle. 
-|- Vide J. Bauhini, Hist. vol. i. p. 42G. 
X The clove tree was lately found by Sonnerat, in New Guinea. 
