Mace is the spice made from the reddish seed covering (aril) of the nutmeg seed. Its flavour is similar to that of nutmeg but more delicate; it is used to flavour baked goods, meat, fish, and vegetables, and in preserving and pickling.^[5]

In the processing of mace, the crimson-colored aril is removed from the nutmeg seed that it envelops and is flattened out and dried for 10 to 14 days. Its color changes to pale yellow, orange, or tan. Whole dry mace consists of flat pieces—smooth, horn-like, and brittle—about 40 mm (1+1⁄2 in) long.^[6]
The most important commercial species is the common, true or fragrant nutmeg, M. fragrans (Myristicaceae), native to the Moluccas (or Spice Islands) of Indonesia.^[7][8] It is also cultivated on Penang Island in Malaysia, in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada, and in Kerala, a state formerly known as Malabar in ancient writings as the hub of spice trading, in southern India. In the 17th-century work Hortus Botanicus Malabaricus, Hendrik van Rheede records that Indians learned the usage of nutmeg from the Indonesians through ancient trade routes.