186 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



berry, crowned with the persistent calyx, smooth, black or purple, and shining 

 wlien ripe. 



Geography. — The geographical zone of the allspice is tropical and sub- 

 tropical, and its distribution is very limited. Jamaica supplies the markets of 

 the world. 



Etymology. — Pimenta, the specific name, is said to be derived from the Por- 

 tuguese pimenta, which signifies " a color," from the Latin pigmentum. This 

 name is probably derived from tlie fact that a decoction of the fruit, bark, or 

 leaves, treated with sulphate of iron, produces an inky black, and the bark 

 and leaves are highly charged with tannin. Allspice, the popular name, is 

 said to be due to the circumstance that the taste of this spice was thought 

 to resemble that of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon combined, hence was said 

 to possess the properties of all tlie spices. 



History. — When this spice first became known 

 to civilized man is not recorded, but it was no 

 doubt taken to Europe soon after the discovery of 

 tlie West Indies. 



Its home is the island of Jamaica, and it is 

 abundant in the mountains on tlie northern side of 

 the island. It also grows in Yucatan, but the fruit 

 is not exported from any locality but Jamaica. 

 Attempts have been made to introduce it to culti- 

 vation in Cuba and in Brazil, but all efforts have 

 failed to improve the quality of the fruit or the 

 size of the tree. 



The leaves and bark, as well as the fruit, are 

 aromatic. 



Culfiration. — The tree grows best without cul- 

 tivation, or, at least, is not improved thereby. As 

 the groves are exhausted, new ones are obtained 

 by removing all trees from a suitable spot in the 

 forest near an old or exhausted grove, and very 

 soon a thicket of pimenta trees appears from seeds which have been sown, 

 carried by the wind or birds to the clearing. The young trees are allowed to 

 reach the age of two or three years, when they are thinned out by removing 

 the weaker, after which the grove (or icalk, as it is called) needs no attention 

 till harvest, which commences as soon as the berries are full grown but not 

 mature. The trees are full grown in about seven years from the time the 

 grove is begun. 



The mode of harvesting is to break off the ends of the branches which are 

 laden with fruit, and drop them to the ground (the tree is greatly benefited 

 by removing the fruit before it matures), where women and children pick off 

 the berries and place them in bags, in wiiich they are carried to a place to cure 

 either by the rays of the sun or by artificial heat, when they are packed in 

 bags for market. 



The harvest occurs in July and August. 



Use. — The tree is sparingly used for ornamental purposes. The leaves are 

 used for tanning leather. The fruit forms one of our most popular spices, 

 used for flavoring sauces, cakes, bread, and for spicing wines, pickles, and 

 cordials. 



Its medicinal properties, as to the fruit and the oil, are identical with those 

 of cloves. 



Eugenia pimenta 

 (Allspice). 



