4Areca palm tree, India

In India, you’re never far from a paan wallah: the vendor of little envelopes of betel vine leaves containing areca nut, slaked lime (the chemical, not the fruit) and a bespoke mixture of fragrant spices and potions.

Paan is typically used as a social lubricant or chewed as an after-dinner mouth cleanser. It turns alarmingly vermillion in the mouth and slowly blackens the teeth – which in Thailand used to be thought of as charming and beautiful. The main active ingredient comes from the large seeds deep within the orange fruit of the areca palm: a delightfully tall and slender tree species, with a disc-like trunk made up of dark and light horizontal bands.

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