Guinea pepper is a name for several unrelated
pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
-like
spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...
s traded from the general region of
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
:
* ''
Aframomum melegueta
''Aframomum melegueta'' is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, and closely related to cardamom. Its seeds are used as a spice (ground or whole); it imparts a pungent, black-pepper-like flavor with hints of citrus. It is commonly ...
'' from the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), also known as grains of paradise, melegueta pepper, alligator pepper, Guinea grains, ''ossame'', ‘‘ataré’’in Yoruba land, ''fom wisa'', and (ambiguously) Guinea pepper
* ''
Piper guineense
''Piper guineense'' is a West African species of ''Piper''; the spice derived from its dried fruit is known as Ashanti pepper, Benin pepper, Edo pepper, false cubeb, Guinea cubeb, and called locally ''kale'', ''kukauabe'', ''masoro'', ''etiñk ...
'' from the pepper family (Piperaceae), also known as West African pepper, Ashanti pepper, Benin pepper, false cubeb, Guinea cubeb, ''kale'', ''kukauabe'', ''masoro'', ''sasema'', ''soro wisa'', and ''uziza''
*
Grains of Selim
Grains of Selim are the seeds of a shrubby tree, ''Xylopia aethiopica'', found in Africa. The seeds have a musky flavor and are used as a spice in a manner similar to black pepper, and as a flavouring agent that defines , the dominant style of c ...
, also known as Kani pepper, Senegal pepper, Ethiopian pepper, Moor pepper, Negro pepper, , , , , , , ''kimba'', ''kili'', and (ambiguously) Guinea pepper
** ''
Xylopia aethiopica
''Xylopia aethiopica'' is an evergreen, aromatic tree, of the Annonaceae family that can grow up to 20m high. It is a native to the lowland rainforest and moist fringe forests in the savanna zones of Africa.
The dried fruits of ''X. aethiopica'' ...
'' from the custard apple family (Annonaceae), primary source of the spice most commonly known in the West as grains of Selim
** ''
Xylopia striata
''Xylopia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. They are mostly trees and some shrubs. There are about 160 species distributed in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.Moreira, I. C., Lago, J. H. G., Young, M. C. M., & Roque, N. F. ...
'', a closely related source of grains of Selim, with larger seed pods
{{Plant common name