Pimenta Species, Citrus Bay, Lemon Bay Rum Tree

I have a lemon bay rum tree, known in Puerto Rico as ausú. It is 5-6 inches in diameter, 15 ft. tall and has flowered and fruited for th...Read Moree first time. My luck with planting the seeds was poor, about 10%. However I soon discovered a large number of 1-2 inch seedlings growing under the tree which I have transplanted into pots.
Traditionally, leaves of the bay rum tree are mixed with rubbing alcohol and applied externally to mitigate pains associated with arthritis, rheumatism, and sprains.
I have used the leaves in infusion whenever I feel cold or flu symptoms coming on. I am confident that the infusion has helped me. It certainly makes me feel better.

I work in the Miriam C Schmidt Botanical Garden on St Eustatius in the Dutch Caribbean. We have a Bay-rum tree (locally called a white ci...Read Morennamon) and a Lemon Bay-rum that was recently donated to us. Locals here make tea from the leaves and claim it helps with fevers and reccomend taking the tea when you have a cold or flu. We are trying to propagate the Lemon Bay-rum so if anyone has any suggestions let us know?? We are part of STENAPA (st eustatius national parks) http://www.statiapark.org for more info on what we are doing. If I have any luck with getting the cuttings to root I will let you all know!!


Update - we got some cuttings to root a few months ago. We took relativley green cuttings and put them in compost with some rooting hormone. Then we placed the pot on a saucer with water and put a clear plastic bag over the plant and tied it round the pot like a mini greenhouse. It took a long time... about 3 months to produce one small root but it happened... we are now working on repeating it. Check out our blog, garden on the golden rock on blogspot for more info on us and what we are doing.

I just ordered today & this is Top Tropicals description:
Pimenta racemosa, Caryophyllus racemosus
Family: Myrtaceae
...Read More Bay Rum Tree
Origin: West Indies
It is related to the Allspice and its leaves are also used for cooking. It contains a fragrant oil that somewhat resembles clove oil. This oil used to be distilled in rum and water from the leaves, to produce bay rum, used as cologne. Inflorescence has small white flowers. They are followed by a small black ovoid fruit. The fruit is not edible, bay rum and essential oil are toxic and should not be ingested.
Pimenta racemosa var. citrfolia "Lemon Scent" - Lemon Bay Rum Tree, Citrus Bay - one of the rarest plants, hard-to-find variety that can't be propagated true from seeds, and cuttings are hard to root. All plant parts have strong lemon scent, very pleasant and relaxing. Can be used in tea. The Citrus Bay plants seem to be much hardier than regular Bay Rum and have better resistance to leaf fungus.