What is the argan tree, and are the tree-climbing goats real?

The argan tree (Argania spinosa) grows almost nowhere on earth except a wedge of southwest Morocco between Essaouira, Agadir and Taroudant — a zone UNESCO protects as a biosphere reserve. It's a gnarled, low, thorny survivor that thrives in semi-arid heat where little else does. I always tell guests it looks like an olive tree that has been through a hard life: twisted trunk, silvery-green leaves, and a canopy thrown out wide to catch every drop of moisture.

Yes, the goats really do climb it — I've watched them do it dozens of times on the road from Marrakech down to Agadir. In the dry months, when ground forage is scarce, goats scramble up the branches to reach the fleshy fruit, balancing on limbs four or five metres up. It looks staged, and sadly at some roadside spots it now is (herders place goats for tips), so I steer guests toward genuine groves further off the highway where the behaviour is natural.

The real treasure is the oil. The fruit surrounds a hard nut, and inside are kernels that women's cooperatives crack by hand — back-breaking work — then roast and cold-press into argan oil. Culinary argan oil is nutty and amber, drizzled over bread or whipped into amlou, a moreish almond-honey spread. Cosmetic argan oil, pressed from unroasted kernels, is the 'liquid gold' sold for skin and hair the world over.

I love taking guests to a women's cooperative near Essaouira, where you can sit with the producers, smell the roasting kernels and taste amlou warm. Buying there sends money straight to rural Amazigh women rather than middlemen. It turns a roadside curiosity into a genuine encounter — and you leave understanding why these scrubby trees are quietly one of Morocco's most valuable natural resources.