From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Also Jamaican pepper. The dried, unripe berries of Pimenta dioica, a tree native to the West Indies and South America but grown predominantly in Jamaica. The spice is also known as pimiento or Jamaica pepper, because early Spanish explorers to Jamaica thought the berries resembled peppercorns. The use of allspice was noted in London in the early 1600s. It's widely used in North America and northern (but not usually southern) Europe. The English name refers to its flavor, which is similar to a combination of cloves, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.
