Its getting SPICY around here!

[QUINNPALMS]

Recently acquired an Allspice tree (Pimenta dioica) , and a cinnamon tree ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

The leaves from the Allspice are so fragrant when crumpled. No smell from the cinnamon, except during the transplant, must have been from severing the roots , but the entire area smelled of cinnamon!!

anyone else growing these? I hear more than one allspice tree is needed to produce fruit...

heres some fotos!

[Silas_Sancona]

Great finds! Your Cinnamon specimen is a beast. Have both myself.

Concerning Allspice, yes.. male and female flowers are generally produced on separate plants though I have read that some specimens can produce both.. or that female trees can still produce berries. Regardless, great trees with a lot of appeal. The two Allspice I have were acquired there in San Diego back in 2008 and have traveled across the country twice with no set back. They also did well through the winter when I was back in San Jose.

As for Cinnamon, noticed leaves are mildly fragrant when crushed, whether fresh or dried. Mine is beat up a bit atm from adjusting to a full sun exposure since I picked it up.

-Nathan-

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Allspice is a great tree. We grow it in the Arboretum, as well as its cousin Bay Rum. I had heard the same about the fruiting and indeed the name says "dioecious", but ours, a single tree, has been fruiting for years. Maybe there is a male nearby but I doubt it. The leaves of both trees get stripped off as visitors want to smell the spice.

The cinnamon is a medium tree with hard wood that also gets stripped of leaves (and branches) up to as high as they can reach. People think that the spice comes from the leaves, but it comes from the bark. Which species of Cinnamon did you get?

[Alicehunter2000]

Is it only cinnamon camphorum that is invasive? I didn't plant any cinnamon tree species because I was under the impression that they were all undesirable.

[Silas_Sancona]

Jerry, Picked up C. zeylanicum. Wanted the true species. Hoping to produce sticks once it gains more size. Bay Rum is next on the "to acquire" list.. Love the smell of the leaves.

David, have heard the same thing regarding Camphor, at least here in FL. Really haven't seen any escapees though. Back in CA, Camphor seedlings would occasionally appear near older trees. Not sure about the other species.

-Nathan-

[Cindy Adair]

I have grown spices for many years in Virginia first inside under a skylight and later with the help of a greenhouse. C. verum aka zeylanicum ("true") is used by most countries as the cinnamon spice. However most cinnamon in the U.S. I'm told is from C. cassia aka aromaticum ("cassia"). I like and grow both. They have subtle differences in leaf smell and growth but both have nice pinkish new leaves.

The leaf smell is best when dry or fresh leaves are crushed in your hand rather than just rubbing the leaves. My plants in Virginia have made seed and some of the seedlings are now growing in Puerto Rico. So those in zone 8 or even lower can easily enjoy this one in a pot. They can easily stay in full sun to freezing, perhaps below. They are monoecious.

Allspice leaves smell even better by rubbing or crushing the leaves. Although they were named Pimenta dioica they will make berries with one plant so they are monoecious too. They along with Cinnamon grow large in the tropics. Allspice has peeling bark like a crepe myrtle which I thought meant that my first tree was dying... Fresh seed, from Hawaii, sprouts easily.

Both trees can provide leaves for cooking as long as the leaves aren't eaten, like using a bay leaf. Of course the spices aren't made from the leaves.

Now you need vanilla (orchids) and later chocolate, nutmeg and cloves but the last two are trickier.

Enjoy your lovely trees!