Origin

Jamaica

Folk medicinal uses

This is a variety of the bay rum or bay berry tree the essential oil of which is used in the manufacture of bay rum. The lemon-scented variety. the leaves of which are termed citronella leaves. yields lemon-scented bay oil with a high citral content. Ordinary oil of bay contains eugenol as its principal constituent. In Jamaica the leaves of lemon-scented pimento are used to make a tea which is regarded as a cold and fever cure. The leaves of the bay rum tree have been used, in the Grenadines, to treat diarrhoea. Oil of bay has been used as a refreshing perfume for headaches, faintness and similar complaints.

Asprey, G.F; Phylis Thornton/ Medicinal plants of Jamaica. Parts III & IV. – p. 63.