Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore, Myrtaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 4 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Caryophyllus racemosus Mill

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bay oil tree, bay rum tree, bay tree, malagueta, West Indian bay

French: bois d'Inde, piment couronné

Tongan: sinamoni

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees 4-12 m tall; petioles 3-10 mm long; leaf blades (1.5) 4-10 (12.5) cm long, 2.5-6 cm wide, obovate to oblanceolate or elliptic, coriaceous, obtuse, acute basally, entire, finely reticulately veined, with 5-7 pairs of rather obscure, main lateral veins, shiny above, dull and pale beneath; cymes pedunculate; flowers white, ca. 10 mm wide; calyx 5-lobed; fruit ovoid, ca 7-12 mm long, black at maturity"  (Welsh, 1998; pp. 199-200).

Habitat/ecology:  Dry and moist forests and open areas, up to 3000 ft. elevation in Hawai‘i.  In Fiji, "cultivated and sometimes naturalized near sea level"  (Smith, 1985; p. 306).

Propagation:  Seed, spread by birds.

Native range:  West Indies and possibly also in northern South America, now widely cultivated.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 9)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island		McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island		McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 9)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Miti‘aro Island		McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Miti‘aro Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 9)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 166355) Taxon name on voucher: Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 664839) Taxon name on voucher: Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 306) Vouchers cited: DA 17317, H.B.R. Parham 333 Sometimes naturalized.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 306) Vouchers cited: DA 17203, 12260, DA L. 11441, DA 16076 Sometimes naturalized.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1960) (voucher ID: BISH 14990) Taxon name on voucher: Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1969) (voucher ID: BISH 33228) Taxon name on voucher: Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore
French Polynesia Society Islands	Huahine Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 200)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 82)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 200) Vouchers cited: Moore 270, Moore 783
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 192) Cultivated?
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 25)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 106) Voucher cited: MacKee 42192
Tonga Ha‘apai Group	Lifuka and Foa Islands	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2001) (p. 74)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1978) (voucher ID: BISH 668956) Taxon name on voucher: Pimenta racemosa J.W.Moore
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2001) (p. 68)

Comments:  Naturalized on most of the southern group of the Cook Islands except Aitutaki. It is especially prevalent on Ma‘uke (Space & Flynn, 2002).

Additional information:  Additional online information about Pimenta racemosa is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Pimenta racemosa may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1929. Voucher specimen #BISH 166355 (Wilder, G.P. 824).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1960. Voucher specimen #BISH 14990 (Pillay, S. 12260).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1969. Voucher specimen #BISH 33228 (Parham, J.W. 16076).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1978. Voucher specimen #BISH 668956 (Buelow, G.P. 402943).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1990. Voucher specimen #BISH 664839 (Sykes, W.R. 466980).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2007. Cook Islands biodiversity and natural heritage. On-line database.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2001. Report to the Kingdom of Tonga on invasive plant species of environmental concern.  USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 78 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.