YahGarden

Herb library · Herb · Pimenta racemosa

Bay rum (West Indian bay)

A Caribbean tree related to allspice whose clove-scented leaves are brewed as a bush tea and distilled for bay oil, the scent of bay rum. Field surveys find it among the most used home remedies in Barbados and Dominica; it has not been studied in people.

Traditional use

In a 2021 survey of three rural communities in Barbados it was the most often named medicinal plant. In rural Dominica, women drink it as a "hot" bush medicine for painful or late periods, following the island's hot-and-cold idea of the body. In a 2015 survey in Trinidad the leaves were boiled and drunk for fever, colds, high blood pressure and as a "cooling" cleanser. The distilled leaf oil, mixed with rum, is the traditional bay rum rubbed on the skin and scalp.

Traditional energetics

What studies show

No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.

  • Insufficient

    Period pain, fever, colds and the other traditional uses: no study of bay rum in people was found. Its leaf extracts and oil reduce pain and inflammation in rodents and act against bacteria in the lab.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteBay oil is concentrated. Do not swallow the oil or drink bay rum toilet water; the leaf tea is the form that is drunk.
  • AllergyThe oil is rich in eugenol, which can irritate or sensitize the skin. Dilute it and patch-test before using it on the skin or scalp.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid medicinal amounts then. It is used for late periods, so do not take it if you might be pregnant.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

Sources

  1. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effect of the aqueous extract from leaves of Pimenta racemosa var. ozua (J Ethnopharmacol, 2004) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Antibacterial activity of essential oils of Pimenta racemosa var. terebinthina and Pimenta racemosa var. grisea (Fitoterapia, 2004) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Determination of eugenol in oil of bay (Pimenta racemosa, Miller) (Analyst, 1975) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on the Use of Botanical Medicines in a Rural Caribbean Territory (Front Pharmacol, 2021) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. Ethnomedicine of menstruation in rural Dominica, West Indies (J Ethnopharmacol, 2014) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  6. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Trinidad (J Ethnobiol Ethnomed, 2015) — full text on PubMed Central (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.