Scientific Name: Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr.

Synonyms: Myrtus dioica L. , Myrtus pimenta L.

Unique ID: 111

Systematic Position

Class: Dicotylodonae
Sub Class: Polypetalae
Series: Calyciflorae
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae

Common Names

English: Allspice, Jamaica Pepper
Malayalam: സർവ്വസുഗന്ധി
Tamil: Vellai milaku
Hindi: Allspice

Description: Tree to 20 m with young branchlets glandular and pubescent. Leaves aromatic, oblong-elliptic, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 5.5–17(–22) cm long, 2–6.5(–8) cm wide, rounded to obtusely acuminate at the apex, ± glabrous beneath. Flowers white, 4-merous, small in many-flowered panicles 5–12 cm long. Fruit subglobose, 5–10 mm diameter, densely covered with convex glands.

Habitat:   Cultivated

Distribution: Native to Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua

Uses:  Food flavouring and preservative, perfume, traditional medicine.