Grows from 20-40′ tall. The dried unripe fruits (peppercorn-like drupes to 1/4″ long) from this tree are ground up into the cooking spice known as allspice. Fruits (drupes to 1/4″ long) are picked green, dried in the sun and stored, either powdered or whole, for culinary use. Whole fruits generally have a longer shelf life than powders and can be ground or crushed fresh when needed. Leaves (3-6″ long) are oblong, leathery and aromatic. Leaves are sometimes used in cooking in somewhat the same manner as bay leaves (remove leaves after cooking). Creamy white flowers in panicles (pyramidal cymes) bloom from the upper leaf axils in summer. Female flowers give way to small green fruits which mature to reddish-brown.