We'll leave the term "allspice" for the berries, and concentrate instead on bay rum leaves which are part of daily life in the Caribbean, both in cooking and the local pharmacopeia. If you happen to be in Martinique or Guadeloupe, you'll hear loving mention of bay rum. "Allspice" is fine for the dried berries, but it's a term for the city.

The leaves comes from a shrub that grows throughout the Caribbean, even in gardens, meaning that you've always got at hand a leaf for the stew or to treat a cut or scrape. They look very much like bay leaves, but the flavor is completely different. When they're rubbed, they give off aromas of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and pepper.