All of us could live without the fruits and other products we
get from trees. But we
would have a much poorer quality of life.

When you sit for a morning break, for instance, you may be
drinking beverages taken
from trees.

Coffee (Coffee arabica) is an evergreen tree 30 feet
tall with white flowers and
a two-seeded, cherry-like fruit.

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is an evergreen tree that
grows to 25 feet in the wild
but is usually kept pruned back to four feet high. Only the two
endmost leaves are picked
from each twig for the best tea. These leaves are then fermented
and dried for black tea
or dry-heated for green tea.

A common stimulant tea of South America is made from the mat‚
tree (Ilex
paraquariensis). Mat‚ is a small holly tree native to
Paraguay.

Another common stimulant tree beverage is made from the cola
tree (Cola nitida),
a native evergreen tree of West Africa.

The cola tree has cream-colored flowers highlighted in red.
These flowers produce bumpy
green pods that grow in starlike clusters and contain 5-10 nuts
each. The cola nuts are
used in a number of commercial beverages.

Even the hot chocolate you drink is derived from a native
Western-hemisphere tree now
grown in West Africa. This leathery-leaf tree is the cocoa
(Theobroma cacao), which
can grow 40 feet tall.

The tree’s pink flowers sprout directly from the woody trunk
and develop into hard,
ribbed fruits with 20-50 seeds inside. Chocolate fanciers should
be thankful the New World
was discovered.

Sit down to a cup of spiced cider, and every taste and aroma
is from trees. Apple
trees, of course, provide the cider. The common spices used to
flavor the cider come from
trees, too.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is a 60-feet-tall
tree from India. It’s usually
cut back every two years, though, and not allowed to grow more
than five feet tall. The
tree’s outer bark is discarded and the inner bark rolled away
for sale.

The other scent of the cinnamon tree is a rotten-smelling
flower that attracts many
insects.

Cloves (Eugenia aromatica) come from a 40-feet-tall
tree that’s native to
Indonesia but is now planted elsewhere. In plantations, the red
flowers aren’t allowed to
open. The unopened buds are what we see as cloves.

The nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans) is native to one
island group in Indonesia.
It can grow 60 feet tall, with fragrant yellow, waxy flowers.

Each nutmeg tree is a single sex. Females produce yellow
fruits with brownish-purple
seeds that do double-duty by generating two spices. The seeds
are nutmeg, and the dried
outer seed coating is mace.

As you sip, think about how trees can produce our drinks, a
touch of spice, and a hint
of glory.

In classical Greek and Roman artwork, leaves from a special
tree — the laurel — often
adorn the heads of great people.

The bay or laurel tree (Laurus nobilis) grows to 60
feet tall and is native to
areas around the Mediterranean Sea. Its aromatic, dark green
leaves have a wavy edge.

A touch of bay in a cup of beef broth or bay leaves bundled
for a victor’s laurel crown
are similar.

Trees have been pillars of human houses and faithful servants
as well. Take a moment to
appreciate the things they provide.

Maybe you should plant a tree, or take care of one, to repay
your debt.