Cloves are a culinary spice with a strong sweet, warm, and spicy taste and aroma that for many evokes the spirit of Christmas, although they actually grow in tropical climates. Cloves are the unopened flower buds harvested from the evergreen clove tree when they are pink. As they are dried they turn brown and the shape resembles a nail. And in fact, their English name comes from the Latin word clavus , meaning nail .