Robert Miller, age 8, of Farmersville California, for his question:

What exactly is pimento?

The pretty red pimento used to stuff olives comes from a fruit that looks like a small, long red pepper. But the plant it grows on is not related to the usual pepper plants. It is.called a capsicum plant. And the bushy little shrub has several cousins that give us other good things besides fleshy red pimento. Two of these plants grow stronger tasting peppers. Their skinny red fruits are dried and ground up to make hot cayenne pepper. Another kind gives us bright red paprika that has a milder taste.

Most of the capsicum pimento plants grow in the warm parts of Central and South America. However, a very different pimento plant grows in the West Indies. It is a dainty evergreen tree with shiny leaves and small glossy black berries. The berries are used to make dark powdery allspice    also called Jamaica pepper or pimento. The two types of pimento plants are not related. The mix up in their names happened because the Spanish settlers used their word for peppercorn to name them both.