Common name: Bay Rum Tree

Bay Rum Tree is an essential-oil-yielding tree native to the Eastern Caribbean, with a natural range extending along the island chain from Puerto Rico, through the Virgin Islands and Dominica, to Trinidad and Tobago.

It is a handsome small- to medium-sized tree 5 to 12 m (15 to 40 ft) tall, with an upright trunk and a dense columnar to narrowly rounded crown. The bark is off-white to light brown, smooth and peels to expose pink-white underbark, leaving a mottled surface.

The leaves are oval, glossy dark green on top, dull green underneath, thick and leathery and produce a pleasing spicy aroma when crushed. They remain on the tree in all seasons.

The flowers are small and insignificant, white, fragrant, blooming in loose clusters at the ends of the branches, usually from early spring to summer. They are followed by small green, oblong berries with up to three very small seeds inside, ripening to dark purple or near black from late summer to autumn.

Material uses

Essential oil - Steam distillation of the leaves yields an essential oil traded as 'Bay Rum oil', a pale yellow to brown-yellow liquid with a dry, woody, intensely spicy aroma reminiscent of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), and Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans). Harvesting begins when the tree is about four to five years old and repeats every twelve to eighteen months thereafter, throughout the tree's life. Commercial plantations can harvest between 10,000 and 20,000 kilograms of leaves per hectare per year, with an average oil content of 2.0%, yielding 200 to 400 kilograms of oil, or 178 to 357 pounds per acre.

Natural fragrance - Bay Rum oil has a long history in men's fragrance, toiletry, and grooming products, such as shaving soap, shampoo, hair tonic, and toilet water, and is a weak-strength splash-on cologne. Bay rum is made up of one part bay rum oil blended in one hundred parts rum.

Hardwood - The wood is fine-grained and heavy, averaging around 900 kgs per cubic meter (56 lbs per cubic ft), and has a high natural resistance to decay, making it a durable hardwood. However, people usually do not fell the tree for its timber because it is an essential-oil crop.

Poles and posts - People sometimes cut the limbs into durable poles or posts, including fence posts.

Cane craft - People also make the limbs into walking sticks.

Firewood - The wood splits easily and makes an excellent, slow-burning firewood.

Home garden tree - The Bay Rum tree is commonly cultivated in gardens in its native range and elsewhere.

Flowering ornamental - ...for its fragrant white flower clusters.

Foliage ornamental - ...attractive peeling mottled bark, lush green foliage.

Shade tree - ...and the shade they give.

Edible uses

Natural flavouring - Bay Rum oil is also used in small amounts as a flavouring in food, especially ice cream, candy, chewing gum, baked goods, beverages, and medicines.

Food smoke - The wood also makes an excellent smoke wood for meat and fish.

Health uses

Bay Rum oil contains phenols that have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Climate

Grows naturally in moderately humid tropical lowland climates, generally in areas with annual lows of 18 to 25°C, annual highs of 27 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 1000 to 2600 mm and a dry season of 5 months or less.

Growing

New plants are usually started from seed and perform best in deep, free-draining, fertile loam soils that are moderately acidic to slightly alkaline, generally with a pH of 5.5 to 7.5, and in full sun.

Problem features

Birds eat the fruit and disperse the seed. At least one reference publication lists it as a weed, and the Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA) project assesses it as a high weed-risk species for Hawaii.

The fruit and essential oil are toxic and should not be ingested in their pure, undiluted form.

Books

• Adams, C. D. 1972, Flowering plants of Jamaica, University of the West Indies, Mona, Greater Kingston

• Attokaran, M. 2011, Natural food flavors and colorants, Institute of Food Technologists, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Oxfordshire

• Brady, G. S. & Clauser, H. R & Vaccari, J. A. 2002, Materials handbook : an encyclopedia for managers, technical professionals, purchasing and production managers, technicians and supervisors, 15th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York

• Fawcett, W. 1891, Economic plants, An index to economic products of the vegetable kingdom in Jamaica, Jamaica Government Printing Establishment, Kingston

• Francis, J. K. 1998, Tree species for planting in forest, rural, and urban areas of Puerto Rico, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico

• Jones, M. 2011, The complete guide to creating oils, soaps, creams, and herbal gels for your mind and body : 101 natural body care recipes, Atlantic Publishing Group, Ocala, Florida

• Khan, I. A. & Abourashed, E. A. 2010, Leung's encyclopedia of common natural ingredients : used in food, drugs and cosmetics, 3rd edition, Wiley Publishing, Hoboken, New Jersey

• Kirk, T. K. 2009, Tropical trees of Florida and the Virgin Islands : a guide to identification, characteristics and uses, 1st ed, Pineapple Press, Sarasota, Florida

• Little, E. L. et al. 1964 and 1974, Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (2 volumes), Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington D.C.

• Macmillan, H. F. 1943, Tropical planting and gardening : with special reference to Ceylon, 5th ed, Macmillan Publishing, London

• McIlroy, R.J. 1963, An introduction to tropical cash crops, Ibadan University Press, Ibadan, Nigeria

• Oyen, L. P. A. & Nguyen X. D. 1999, Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 19 : Essential-oil plants, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden

• Randall, R. P. 2002, A global compendium of weeds, R.G. and F.J. Richardson Press, Melbourne

• Randall, R. P. 2007, The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status, Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management, Glen Osmond, South Australia

• Seidemann, J. 2005, World spice plants: economic usage botany taxonomy, Springer-Verlag, Berlin

• Stewart, A. 2013, The drunken botanist : the plants that create the world's great drinks, 1st ed., Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

• Weiss, E. A 2002, Spice crops, CABI Publishing, Wallingford, United Kingdom