Cinnamomum burmannii

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

Overview

Tree , native to China, source of cassia. The related cinnamon, C. zeylanicum, also occurs in Hawaii and is the form of the spice marketed predominately in the old world. The oil is used in medicine. Flavoring from inner bark is used in many foods, candies, gums, dentifrices, etc.

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

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Cinnamomum Burmanni

Notes

Basionym : Lauraceae Laurus burmannii Nees & T.Nees

Basionym author: (Nees & T.Nees)

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

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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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java. (F Java)
• Bisset, N. G., ed. 1994. Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice on a scientific basis. (Herbal Drugs)
• Craker, L. E. & J. E. Simon, eds. 1986–1987. Herbs, spices, and medicinal plants, 2 vols. (HerbSpices)
• Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants. (Cornucopia)
• Kostermans, A. J. G. H. 1986. A monograph of the genus Cinnamomum Schaeff. (Lauraceae): part 1. Ginkgoana 6:37.
• Kunkel, G. 1984. Plants for human consumption. (L Edible Pl)
• Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. (Ency CNatIn)
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. (Food Feed Crops US)
• Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics. (CultTropS)
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
• 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.
• Carr, Gerald
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
• 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 26, 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:

• USDA PLANTS: USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3890026
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-506206
• GRIN Nomen Number: 10577
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 501525
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 463328-1
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CIBU2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 28958

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.