ALLSPICE

Pimento dioica.This becomes a small? tree to 40'(feet). You will not be able to get this to that size in our present world of "Home Gardening". So, with that, this will become a SMALL TREE to at least 4 feet. Our stock plant if over 13 years old and gets to 4ft easily although we take cuttings and it remains 2-3ft but so loaded with leaves we could cook for the entire West Indies and Jamaica from which this is most used in their cuisine and used by the fresh leaves! Once established, this willloom around June with a tons of clustered small white flowers. After flowering, it produces green fruit that turns blackish-brown when ripe. It is the unripe green fruit which is harvested, dried, and ground to become the familiar spice in the kitchen-allspice. A combination a cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove best describe the flavor of Allspice berries. The super AROMATIC leaves are used for seasoning Jamaican dishes and teas. Use the leaves also to flavor sausage, pickles, liquors, ice-cream, and soft drinks. The ground seeds(makes it a spice)is added to baking recipes; such as cakes, cookies, pasties, and sauces. In AROMATHERAPY allspice oil is used to relieve drowsiness and as a POTTED PLANT it is an uplifting PLEASURE to occasionally crush a leaf(as I do with my WALK-AROUND show-in-tells of the farm)for its invigorating fragrance!