Spice spices. Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Given medieval medicine's main theory of humorism, spices and herbs were indispensable to balance "humors" in food, a daily basis for good health at a time of recurrent pandemics. In addition to being desired by those using medieval medicine, the European elite also craved spices in the Middle Ages. An example of the European aristocracy's demand for spice comes from the King of Aragon, who invested
Cassia fistula and the tree was depicted on a 20-rupee stamp. The golden rain tree is the national flower of Thailand; its yellow flowers symbolize Thai royalty. A 2006–2007 flower festival, the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek, was named after the tree, which is known in Thai as" ratchaphruek" (Thai: ราชพฤกษ์) and the blossoms commonly referred to as "dok koon" (Thai: ดอกคูน). "C. fistula" is also featured on a 2003 joint Canadian-Thai design for a 48-cent stamp, part of a series featuring national emblems. "Cassia acutifolia", the pudding-pipe tree, furnishes the cassia pods of commerce. In Laos, its blooming flowers known locally as "dok