Pimenta
(from Pimento, the Spanish name). All-spice-tree. ORD. Myrtaceae. A genus containing five species of very fragrant, stove trees, natives of tropical America, one being also frequently found in the East Indies. Flowers small, disposed in trichotomous, many-flowered cymes in the upper axils; calyx tube turbinate or campanulate, the limb of four or five spreading lobes or segments; petals four or five, spreading; stamens many-seriate. Fruit baccate, crowned with the calyx limb. Leaves ample, coriaceous, penniveined. The under-mentioned species require culture similar to Myrtus (which see). P. acris (acrid). Baberry-tree; Black Cinnamon; Wild Clove. fl. white, with a slightly reddish tinge, five-cleft; peduncles axillary and terminal, trichotomous, corymbose, compressed, longer than the leaves. May to July. Berries as large as peas, having an aromatic smell and taste. l. elliptic, obtuse, convex, coriaceous, glabrous, reticulate-veined above, full of very fine, pellucid dots. h. 20ft. to 40ft. West Indies, 1759. The berries of this tree are useful for culinary purposes; the leaves also, having a sweet, aromatic smell, and on account of their astringency, are often used in sauces. SYN. Myrcia acris (B. M. 3153.) P. officinalis (officinal). Pimento-bush. fl. white, in compound, corymb-like cymes; calyx four-lobed, the tube as long as the ovary. May to July. Fruit globose. l. oblong or lanceolate-oblong, glabrous; veins obsolete above, primary distant and slightly prominent beneath. Branchlets compressed, sub-tetragonal, glabrate. h. 2ft. Jamaia, 1793. SYNS. P. vulgaris, Eugenia Pimenta, Myrtus Pimenta (B. M. 1236).
P. vulgaris (common). Asynonym of P. officinalis.