The clove is a plant native to the Moluccas Islands in Indonesia. It is a conical shaped tree. Average height of 12 to 15 m, it can reach up to 20 m high. Nowadays it looks like often to a shrub because it is regularly pruned to facilitate picking.
Its evergreen leaves are oval and leathery. When mature, the leaves are shiny dark green, but when developing they are pink in color. the stamens are numerous and grouped into 4 bundles commonly called “cloves”, a flower in the state of an unbloomed bud.
The Clove was introduced in Madagascar around the 19th century in Ambodifotatra, Saint Marie.
The cultivation of cloves is now mastered and adopted by producers more particularly in eastern Madagascar. The majority of nail production is concentrated in the area of Mananara, Fénérive-Est and Soanierana Ivongo.