Curated category
Austronesian agriculture
- ChickenArchaeologists uncovered chicken bones at Ban Non Wat in central Thailand dating back 3,250 years. These skeletal remains sit alongside rice grains that wild…
- SugarcaneThe tall, jointed stalks of Saccharum officinarum rise 2 to 6 meters above the soil in New Guinea. This specific region serves as the primary center for the…
- CardamomThe first reference to cardamom appears in Sumerian records, yet the plant itself remains a biological puzzle. Two distinct genera produce the spice known as…
- Cooking bananaCarl Linnaeus originally classified bananas into two species based only on their uses as food. He named Musa paradisiaca for plantains and Musa sapientum for…
- BananaThe genus Musa was created by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. This name may be derived from Antonius Musa, physician to the Emperor Augustus, or Linnaeus may have…
- CoconutA fossilized fruit from New Zealand dates back to the Miocene epoch, roughly 23 million years ago. This specimen, named Cocos zeylandica, measured only about…
- GingerGinger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine.
- NutmegThe Banda Islands in Maluku, Indonesia, remain the only place where true nutmeg trees grow wild. These dark-leaved evergreens stand as dioecious plants…
- CloveThe Syzygium aromaticum tree stands as an evergreen reaching heights of up to 20 meters. Its large leaves and crimson flowers grow in terminal clusters that…