198 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
entire, dark -green above, paler and gland-dotted beneath, 
with a prominent mid-rib 4 to 6 in. long. They are 
very aromatic when fresh, abounding in essential oil. 
The flowers are in trichotomous panicles on the ends of 
the branches. They are very small, white, and fragrant. 
The calyx has four rounded lobes. The petals are four, 
rounded and greenish white. The stamens are very 
numerous, longer than the petals, and white. The fruit 
is a black or purple one-seeded drupe, about the size of 
a pea, from ^ to in. through. When ripe it has a 
sweet pulp, but then loses much of its aromatic property, 
and thus is gathered before fully mature. 
DISTRIBUTION 
Allspice is a native of the West Indies, occurring 
on calcareous soil near the coast on the islands of Cuba, 
Hayti, Trinidad, Domingo, and more or less in all the 
islands of the Caribbean Sea, but it is most abundant in 
Jamaica, which island produces the greater part of the 
commercial spice. The tree occurs also in Mexico, Costa 
Rica, and Venezuela. The Mexican spice is, however, 
inferior, larger, but less aromatic. It is believed to be 
the produce of a distinct variety of Pimenta officinalis, 
and is known as Pimienta de Tabasco. 
It does not appear that the tree has been success- 
fully cultivated in any part of the world, except where 
it is indigenous, though attempts seem to have been 
made in most of the tropical colonies. In the Botanic 
Gardens in Singapore there were a few trees of this plant 
for many years, and though they flowered regularly 
they never produced any fruit. Nor does it seem to 
have done any better in Ceylon, where it is said to have 
been introduced as early as 1824. 
Bernays, in Cultural Industries for Queensland, 
mentions a fruiting tree in the Brisbane Botanic 
Gardens about 15 ft. tall and fifteen years old, but Jt 
does not appear that there was any extension of the 
cultivation. 
