''Pimenta'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the myrtle family,

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

described as a genus in 1821. It is native to Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Well-known species include allspice (''P. dioica'') and the West Indian bay tree ( ''P. racemosa''). The name is mostly probably derived from the Portuguese word "pimenta", with the same meaning of the Spanish word ''pimienta'', meaning "peppercorn." It refers to the berries of ''P. dioica''.

Species

20 species are accepted.

References

External links

Flora of the Neotropical realm Taxa described in 1821 Taxa named by John Lindley {{Myrtaceae-stub