A gardening friend emailed me. “We found the allspice plant. It doesn’t look the one you have. It’s different,” he said.
My heart sank right down to my toes. Had I been taken for a ride?
“What do you mean? What’s different?” I asked.
“The leaves,” came the reply.
The leaves of the allspice I had were oval while the other was elliptical.
Okay … but the scent was more critical in this case.
“Is that the only difference? What about the scent?”
“Yours has a stronger citrusy scent. The other is more subtle and smells more like cloves. ”
“Which do you think has a better scent?” I held my breath and tried to sound nonchalant.
I exhaled. That was some consolation.
But was mine an allspice plant then? This started a flurry of email exchanges and internet searches.
Google Search threw up dozens of photos of the Pimenta Dioica with elliptical leaves and only a few of the oval shaped ones. But that didn’t tell us much.
By now I was more interested in something else. Was the other Pimenta Dioica worth getting? Priced at just a third of what I had paid for mine, it was a no brainer. I wanted it.
I set the wheels in motion. Friends helped and one drove her set of four wheels right to the doorstep recently to unload the elliptical Pimenta Dioica.
The two Pimenta Dioica look like totally different plants. Could they be related? I’m not in a hurry to find out, but if you do know, please drop me a line.
Whatever the case, welcome to the fold, Elliptica!
Many, many thanks to everyone who made this possible for me. ❤
For those who are keen to see the other plant, the article is here in https://typicalgardener.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/allspice-pimenta-dioica/
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Care and propagation: Partial to full sun; garden soil, water moderately. Propagate using seeds (not tried to propagate this myself as yet)
Hi Ty
The elliptical shaped one is definitely not the allspice and I don’t recall they being a related specie but still I am very curious of the identity of that plant. The oval shaped is definitely the allspice and you would know when you crush the leaves because of the scent its so overpowering the mixes of all the spices. And you were right, the price for one pot of allspice is so exorbitant and yet, I also couldn’t resist, mine is growing very well though , twice of size of when I bought it a few months ago.
hi cina. it may not be the allspice as we know it, but it is being sold as allspice and it appears to be the same as most of the photos we see in google search as well. still, like you say, the oval one has such a wonderful scent. glad yours is doing well. have you tried propagating it?
On second thought, it looks like the gandarusa putih, a local herb plant, because I have the plant and it looks similar and the leaves produce a scent when you pluck it.
aaaahh TG…i dont have any of them! i do have clove though…..
i have a clove too …. with no cloves. sigh. is yours blooming?
Hi mate
The plants getting around as p dioica in australia look like the elliptical one
Then again plants sold as cloves turn out to be bay rum tree – p racemosa?
I have a book on spices by PROSEA hope I can find it and read out their description for u
hi there, reville. would be great if your spice book reveals something! thanks ahead.
nope young plant….d parent trees have been cut down…but some new babies still around…on my parent in-laws’ land….they had some acres of clove…all cut down…planting other crops….first time i visit got to see fresly picked cloves….now no more!!
fresh cloves! that would be a treat to see!
I also like gardening of herbs and edible plants.
Good to know that you have done such good kind of deep study.
The oval leafed one is definitely Pimenta racemosa – the bay rum tree. Many local nurseries in KL sell P. racemosa as allspice. So you are lucky to have the real allspice if you have the elliptic ones.
My friend has the elliptical one and I took a cutting to Taman Herba, Simpang Pulai for identification. The officer told me “Allspice” and advised me to look for the trees in the garden. Interestingly all the allspice trees there had oval leaves but what was more amazing was the name-plate : Allspice (Clina canthus). The plot thickens…..how did Sabah seagrass get entangled with Pimenta/Bay rum?!
Intriguing, Luke. 😉 btw, how is your cutting doing?
There is no way Pimenta/Bay rum can be propagated by cuttings…….otherwise you wouldn’t have to part an arm or leg to get your plant! The workers in Taman Herba did tell me that they tried, but failed, to propagate Allspice (I think by air-layering)…..had they succeeded I would have bought a plant that day.