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Issue: Vol. 653 No. 3: 19 Jun. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-06-19
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.653.3.2
Page range: 208-218
Abstract views: 53
PDF downloaded: 1

Revisiting the identity and distribution of Allspice (Myrtaceae), a misidentified spice in India

Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala, India
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala, India
Pharmacognosy Division, Centre for Medicinal Plants Research, Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal, Malappuram, Kerala - 676 503, India
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala, India
vijeship2000@rediffmail.com
PDSH Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, PIN 226001, Uttar Pradesh
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala, India
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala, India
Pimenta dioica Pimenta racemosa Bay rum Pimento wrong identity Eudicots

Abstract

Our recent studies revealed that the species being grown throughout India as ‘Allspice’ is not Pimenta dioica but an allied species, P. racemosa or Bay rum tree. We could locate true allspice (P. dioica), only at a single location in southern India. P. racemosa can be distinguished by its five lobed calyx and corolla and slightly larger fruits with 3–6 seeds in place of four lobed calyx and corolla and smaller fruits with 1–2 seeds in P. dioica. To elucidate its identity and to avoid the trade of a commodity under an erroneous name, the morphological, anatomical and molecular characters delineating the two species are studied and the distribution of the genus Pimenta in India is discussed here.

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