Pimenta (genus)

For other uses, see Pimenta (disambiguation).

Pimenta is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae described as a genus in 1821.^[3][4] It is native to Central and South America, Mexico, and the West Indies.^[2]

Pimenta
Pimenta dioica flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Subfamily:	Myrtoideae
Tribe:	Myrteae
Genus:	Pimenta Lindl.[1]
Synonyms[2][1]
Amomis O.Berg Cryptorhiza Urb. Evanesca Raf. Krokia Urb. Mentodendron Lundell Myrtekmania Urb. Pimentus Raf. Pseudocaryophyllus O.Berg

Well-known species include allspice (P. dioica) and the West Indian bay tree (P. racemosa). The name is mostly probably derived from the Portuguese word "pimenta", with the same meaning of the Spanish word pimienta, meaning "peppercorn." It refers to the berries of P. dioica.^[5]

Species

20 species are accepted.^[6][2][7][8]

• Pimenta adenoclada (Urb.) Alain – Cuba
• Pimenta berciliae T.N.C.Vasconc. & Peguero – Dominican Republic
• Pimenta cainitoides (Urb.) Burret – Cuba and Dominican Republic
• Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. – allspice – Southern Mexico, Central America, Greater Antilles, Cayman Islands, and Bahamas
• Pimenta ferruginea (Griseb.) Burret – Cuba
• Pimenta filipes (Urb.) Burret – Cuba
• Pimenta guatemalensis (Lundell) Lundell – Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama
• Pimenta haitiensis (Urb.) Landrum – Haiti and Dominican Republic
• Pimenta intermedia (Bisse) Urquiola – Cuba^[9]
• Pimenta jamaicensis (Britton & Harris) Proctor – Jamaica
• Pimenta obscura Proctor – Jamaica
• Pimenta odiolens (Urb.) Burret – Cuba
• Pimenta oligantha (Urb.) Burret – Cuba
• Pimenta paganii (Krug & Urb.) Flickinger – Puerto Rico
• Pimenta podocarpoides (Areces) Landrum – Cuba
• Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus (Gomes) Landrum – Brazil and Bolivia
• Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W.Moore – West Indian bay tree – Cayman Is, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and Venezuela
• Pimenta richardii Proctor – Jamaica
• Pimenta samanensis (Alain) Peguero – Dominican Republic (formerly assigned to Eugenia)
• Pimenta yumana (Alain) T.N.C.Vasconc. – Dominican Republic (formerly assigned to Eugenia)