CHAPTER V 



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PIMENTO OR ALLSPICE 



PIMENTO or allspice consists of the dried unripe fruits of 

 Eugenia pimento, , DC. (Pimenta qfficinalis, Lindley), 

 belonging to the order Myrtaceae, and to the same 

 genus as the clove tree. The spice takes its popular 

 name from its resemblance in perfume and taste to a 

 mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It is also 

 known as Jamaica pepper. 



In French, Piment des Anglais, Toute-epice, Poivre 

 de Jamalque ; in German, Nelkenpfeffer, Nelkenkopfe. 



The word, pimento is derived from pimienta, the 

 Spanish word for peppercorns, which the spice resembles. 

 It was called by Redi, Pimienta de Chiapa (Chiapas in 

 Mexico) and Pimienta de Tabasco. 



It seems first to have been imported into Europe 

 about 1601, or a little later, and, according to Parkinson, 

 substituted for round cardamoms. Ray, in 1693, 

 distinguished it as a Jamaica spice under the name of 

 sweet-scented Jamaica pepper or allspice. 



DESCRIPTION 



The plant is a tree from 20 to 30 ft. tall, occasion- 

 ally attaining the height of 40 ft. It has a slender, 

 straight, upright trunk, much branched at the top and 

 covered with a smooth grey bark. The leaves are 

 polished green, opposite oblong-lanceolate, tapering to 

 the petiole, blunt, and somewhat emarginate at the top ; 



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