Side by side
Compare plates
Lay two plants next to each other — uses, risks, and whether either has a grow guide.
LegalCaution
Nutmeg
Myristica fragrans
One fruit, two spices — the brown seed and the lacy red mace — a kitchen warm with a hard stop at the teaspoon.
Flavor
Warm, woody, a little camphor and pine. Mace is brighter, more citrus-floral; nutmeg is deeper.
Symptoms
indigestion, nausea, insomnia
In favor
A whole seed keeps for years
Against
Toxic in ‘recreational’ amounts
Days to harvest
Several years to first fruit in the tropics; the kitchen crop is purchased
Choose a specimen