Allspice

allspice, (Pimenta dioica), also called Jamaican pepper or pimento, tropical evergreen tree of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) and its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice. The plant is native to the West Indies and Central America. Allspice was so named because the flavour of the dried berry resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is widely used in baking and is usually present in mincemeat and mixed pickling spice. Early Spanish explorers, mistaking it for a type of pepper, called it pimenta, hence its botanical name and some of its common names. The first record of its import to Europe is from 1601.