Nutmegs. Whole nuts from the nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, after they have been removed from their fruit casing (not shown here). Each nut consists of an orange aril partially covering the darker seed. The fleshy aril is removed and used to make mace, a type of spice. The shell of the seed is then removed and discarded. The kernal (not seen here), consisting mainly of endosperm and a small embryo, is dipped into slaked lime to prevent germination. It is then ground up to make the spice nutmeg. An average M. fragrans plant grows about five hundred nutmegs every year, but a productive tree yields up to two thousand.