STAR ANISE - the seed pod of Ilicium serum , an evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. The highly fragrant oil is used in cooking, perfumery, soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and skin creams. About 90% of the world's star a
JUNIPER - A Juniper berry, Juniperus communis , is really a modified pine cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales. In fact, juniper berries are probably the only spice derived from conifers. The image here is a mature berry, but it's the immat
CLOVE - the aromatic flower bud of a tree in the Myrtaceae family, Syzygium aromaticum . Cloves are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. Good for toothache!
NUTMEG - the seed of several species of the genus Myristica that are all dark-leaved evergreen trees. The tree's fruits provide two spices, nutmeg, from its seed, and mace, from the seed covering.
CARDAMON - Elettaria cardamomum , the most common species of several perennial plants in the ginger family, whose seeds are all called cardamom. The seeds are produced by herbaceous plants native to southern India.
CINNAMON - Cinnamomum verum is a bushy evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae) native to Sri Lanka and the neighbouring Malabar Coast of India, and Myanmar. The spice is derived from the inner bark of the tree that is rolled up and dried
CHILLI PEPPER - Capsicum annum , variety 'Apache'. You can easily grow these at home and each small plant produces loads of chillies. The Scoville Heat Unit scale (SHU) that gives a measure of how hot chillies are to eat was originally developed by
BLACK PEPPER - The dried fruits of a flowering vine in the Piperaceae family ( Piper nigrum ). The mature fruits are about 5 mm in diameter and dark red. In the centre is a white seed which gives the pepper its heat and bite, while the black husk is
CORIANDER - Coriandrum sativum , an annual herb from the parsley family, Apiaceae. Generally thought to be native to the Mediterranean and southwestern Europe. This image is of a coriander seed, but all parts of the plant are edible. The fresh leav
SEA SALT - not really a spice, but fits in with my other culinary images! If you use Maldon sea salt flakes for cooking, you can find beautiful crystals of salt in the packet. Maldon is a town in Essex, UK, that has a long history of sea salt produc
TUMERIC - Curcuma longa , a herbaceous plant in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It's native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia and you probably know turmeric as the main spice in curry. The plant is sterile and does not produce seeds,
GINGER - Zingiber officinale is a flowering plant whose rhizome, (ginger root) is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. Ginger is in the Zingiberaceae family which also includes turmeric, cardamom and galangal. The spice originated in Southe
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