Nutmeg once grew in only one place on Earth, the tiny Banda Islands of Indonesia. This episode explores the stubborn biology of Myristica fragrans, a dioecious tree that takes years to reveal whether it is male or female, relies on grafting and a towering canary nut tree for shelter, and yields two spices at once: nutmeg from the seed and mace from the crimson aril.

We trace more than 3,500 years of trade, from ancient pottery residue to secretive Arab middlemen, the Portuguese, and the Dutch East India Company, whose 1621 war devastated the Bandanese people. Then we follow the English defense of Run Island, the 1667 Treaty of Breda that traded New Amsterdam for it, the British transplanting of trees to Grenada and beyond, the wooden nutmeg legend, and the hallucinogenic and toxic chemistry hiding in large doses.

• Why female trees, epicotyl grafting, and a 20-year path to peak production made nutmeg so scarce
• How the VOC reduced the Banda population from about 15,000 to roughly 1,000 to secure a monopoly
• The Treaty of Breda swap that handed the English Manhattan in exchange for their claim to Run Island
• Nutmeg in global cuisine, from Indonesian soups and garam masala to haggis, tortellini, and the painkiller cocktail
• How myristicin and elemicin act on the nervous system, and why nutmeg intoxication is prolonged and miserable