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 marksiana endangered. It is a small to medium-sized tree, up to 25 m tall and a stem diameter of 50 cm. The trunk is not buttressed, with grey-brown wrinkled bark. Compound leaves are alternate on the stem, with four to 16 leaflets, 2.5 to 7.5 cm long, usually opposite the leaf stem. Leaflets vary in shape, mostly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate and broader. Leaf veins easily noticed. Showy and attractive yellow flowers form on racemes from September to November. A long, thin pod matures from June to October, 30 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Cassia marksiana Cassia marksiana, Marks cassia,