Myristica fragrans shiny seed, long by about across, with a red or crimson covering (an aril). The seed is the source of nutmeg, the aril the source of mace. "Myristica fragrans" was given a binomial name by the Dutch botanist Maartyn Houttuyn in 1774. It had earlier been described by Georg Eberhard Rumphius, among others. The specific epithet "fragrans" means "fragrant". Myristica fragrans Myristica fragrans is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Moluccas (or the Spice Islands) of Indonesia. It is important as the main source of the spices nutmeg and mace. It is widely grown across the tropics including Guangdong and
Myristica swamp recorded. Twelve of these plants species have been redlisted and about 28 species of them are endemic to Western Ghats. Out of the 19 sample plots, Gymnacranthera farquhariana was dominant in 10 plots. Myristica fatua was the dominant tree in 6 swamps. In the remaining plots, Vateria indica was the dominant tree. Holigarna arnottiana and Lophopetalum wightianum dominated in another two plots. Nair and colleagues in southern Kerala in 2007 focussed on fauna also. Faunal biodiversity of the Myristica swamps consisted of Platyhelminthes- (Bipalium-2, tapeworm-1) 3 species, Nemathelminthes – 1 species, Annelida (Oligochaeta -2and Hirudinea-2) 4 species, Mollusca- 10 species,