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 crossbill crossbill was in a coevolutionary arms race with the lodgepole pine, further leading to habitat isolation. In 2016, it was identified as phylogenetically distinct from the other call types. This is an example of sympatric speciation. In 2017, the AOU reached a consensus and split the South Hills crossbill from the red crossbill and rename it the Cassia crossbill, because its habitat resided in Cassia County, Idaho. The Cassia crossbill will exclusively forage for lodgepole pine cones that are found in the South Hills and Albion Mountains region. A primary reason why this species of crossbill can exist in such