Cinnamomum verum

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Lauraceae

Shrubs to tall trees , evergreen or rarely deciduous ( Cassytha a parasitic vine with leaves reduced to scales ), usually aromatic . Leaves alternate, rarely whorled or opposite, simple , without stipules, petiolate . Leaf blade : unlobed (unlobed or lobed in Sassafras ), margins entire, occasionally with domatia (crevices or hollows serving as lodging for mites ) in axils of main lateral veins (in Cinnamomum ) . Inflorescences in axils of leaves or deciduous bracts, panicles (rarely heads ), racemes , compound cymes, or pseudoumbels (spikes in Cassytha ), sometimes enclosed by decussate bracts. Flowers bisexual or unisexual , bisexual only, or staminate and pistillate on different plants , or staminate and bisexual on some plants, pistillate and bisexual on others; flowers usually yellow to greenish or white, rarely reddish; hypanthium well developed, resembling calyx tube , tepals and stamens perigynous; tepals 6(-9), in 2(-3) whorls of 3, sepaloid , equal or rarely unequal, if unequal then usually outer 3 smaller than inner 3 (occasionally absent in Litsea ) ; stamens (3-) 9(-12), in whorls of 3, but 1 or more whorls frequently staminodial or absent; stamens of 3d whorl with 2 glands near base ; anthers 2- or 4-locular, locules opening by valves ; pistil 1, 1-carpellate; ovary 1-locular; placentation basal; ovule 1; stigma subsessile , discoid or capitate. Fruits drupes, drupe borne on pedicel with or without persistent tepals at base, or seated in ± deeply cup-shaped receptacle (cupule), or enclosed in accrescent floral tube . Seed 1; endosperm absent.

Genera ca. 50, species 2000-3000 (9 genera, 13 species in the flora ) : pantropical , a few species also in subtropical and temperate regions

Cassytha is sometimes placed in its own family , Cassythaceae; it is here retained in Lauraceae.[1]

Genus Cinnamomum

Trees or shrubs , evergreen . Bark gray [or brown], furrowed [or smooth ]; bark and leaves often aromatic . Leaves alternate, infrequently opposite. Leaf blade with (1-) 3 primary veins [or infrequently pinnately veined], papery to leathery; surfaces glabrous or variously pubescent ; domatia frequently present. Inflorescences appearing when mature leaves are present, axillary , panicles. Flowers bisexual ; tepals deciduous or persistent , white, green, or yellow, equal; stamens 9, anthers 4-locular, 4-valved (rarely with anthers of inner 3 stamens 2-locular), extrorse ; staminodes 3, apex sagittate or cordate; ovary ovoid-ellipsoid. Drupe bluish black, nearly globose , seated in small cupule with entire single rim or tepals persistent.

Species 300 or more: tropical and subtropical regions, North America, Central America, South America, Asia, Pacific Islands, Australia.

The neotropical species were formerly included in Phoebe, but they are better placed in Cinnamomum.[2]

Physical Description

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 30-40' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume • Laurus cinnamomum L.

Notes

Publishing author : J.Presl Publication : Prir. Rostlin 2: 37 1825 [1823-1825]

Similar Species

Members of the genus Cinnamomum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 27 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. aromaticum (Cassia Cinnamon) · C. bejolghota (and God´s Cinnamon) · C. burmanni (Padang Cassia) · C. burmannii (Malaysian Cinnamon) · C. burmannii f. heyneanum (Narrow-Leaved Batavia Cinnamon) · C. camphora (Camphor Laurel) · C. camphora var. procera (Japanese Camphor) · C. chekiangensis (Camphor Tree) · C. citriodorum (Malabar Cinnamon) · C. elongatum (Laurel Avispillo) · C. glanduliferum (False Camphor Tree) · C. iners (Wild Cinnamon) · C. japonicum (Japanese Cinnamon) · C. loureirii (Saigon Cassia) · C. loureiroi (Vietnamese Cinnamon) · C. macrocarpum (Medicinal Cinnamon) · C. malabathrum (Cinnamon (Western Ghats - India)) · C. mercadoi (Cinamomon) · C. mexicanum (Mexican Cinnamon) · C. montanum (Avispillo) · C. sessilifolium (Cinnamon) · C. sulphuratum (North-India Wild Cinnamon) · C. tamala (Indian Bark) · C. tamala var. albiflorum (Indian-Cassia) · C. tamala var. intermedium (Indian-Cassia) · C. verum (Ceylon Cinnamon Tree) · C. zeilanicum (Sri Lanka Cinnamon)

More Info

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Further Reading

• American flower garden directory: containing practical directions for the culture of plants in the flower garden, hot-house, green-house, rooms, or parlour windows, for every month in the year. With a description of the plants most de Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1845. url p. 169.
• American flower-garden directory: containing practical directions for the culture of plants in the hot-house, garden-house, flower garden, and rooms or parlours, for every month in the year. .. Instructions for erecting a hot-house, g by Hibbert and Buist. .. Philadelphia: Printed for the authors by Adam Waldie, 1832. url p. 244.
• An encyclopædia of agriculture comprising the theory and practice of the valuation, transfer, laying out, improvement, and management of landed property, and the cultivation and economy of the animal and vegetable productions of ag by J.C. Loudon London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1831 url p. 221.
• Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum; or, The trees and shrubs of Britain, native and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described; with their propagation, culture, mana London, Henry G. Bohn, 1854. url p. 18.
• Arboretum et fruticetum britannicum; or, The trees and shrubs of Britain, native and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described; with their propagation, culture, mana London, Henry G. Bohn, 1854. url p. 18.
• Botany for ladies; or, A popular introduction to the natural system of plants, according to the classification of De Candolle. By Mrs. Loudon. London, J. Murray, 1842. url p. 424.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 277, p. 404, p. 405, p. 411, p. 461, p. 462, p. 509.
• Designing an optimum protected areas system for Sri Lanka's natural forests. Volume 1 Sri Lanka Forest Dept. url p. 22.
• Flora Costaricensis / William Burger, editor. 23 1990 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1990. url p. 45.
• Flora Vitiensis nova: a new Flora of Fiji (spermatophytes only) / Albert C. Smith. Lawaii, Hawaii: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, 1979- url p. 120, p. 123.
• Flora barbadensis: a catalogue of plants, indigenous, naturalized, and cultivated, in Barbados: to which is prefixed, a geological description of the island /by James Dottin Maycock. 1830 London: J. Ridgeway, 1830. url p. 162.
• Illustrations of vegetable physiology, practically applied, to the cultivation of the garden, the field, and the forest. .. By James Main. .. London, Orr and Smith, 1835. url p. 75.
• Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania, The Society. url p. 29.
• Popular geography of plants; or, A botanical excursion round the world, by E.M.C.; ed. by Charles Daubeny. London, 1855. url p. 273.
• The American flower garden directory: Philadelphia, Carey and Hart, 1841. url p. 186.
• The British cyclopædia of natural history: combining a scientific classification of animals, plants, and minerals. .. By authors eminent in their particular department. Arranged and ed. by Charles F. Partington. London: Orr & Smith, 1835-37. url p. 54.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. 1864 London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 556, p. 557.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 132, p. 298, p. 786.
• The Journal of horticulture, cottage gardener and country gentlemen. London: George W. Johnson and Robert Hogg, 1861-1877. url p. 344, p. 453.
• The World List of Threatened Trees WCMC, IUCN url p. 103.
• The commercial products of the vegetable kingdom, considered in their various uses to man and in their relation to the arts and manufactures; forming a practical treatise and handbook of reference for the colonist, manufacturer, merchant, and consume London, Day, 1854. url p. 510.
• Wood, C. E. Jr. 1958. The genera of the woody Ranales in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 39: 296-346.
• Rohwer, J. G. 1993. Lauraceae: Nectandra. In: Organization for Flora Neotropica. 1968+. Flora Neotropica. 65+ vols. New York. Monogr. 60.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 6 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 27, 2008)
• USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

• Botanical Research Institute of Texas: Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad: Banco Nacional de Germoplasma Vegetal, México (BANGEV, UACH)
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad: Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México (IE-BAJÍO)
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad: Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México (IE-XAL)
• Herbier de la Guyane
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (Costa Rica): Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales: Plants of Papua New Guinea
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility: Magnoliophyta
• USDA PLANTS: USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2666198
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-501529
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:463752-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 70183
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 501529
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 463752-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDLAU04060
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CIZE2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 30707

Footnotes

1. Henk van der Werff "Lauraceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Henk var der Werff "Cinnamomum". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.