Cinnamomum.'] LaUTaceCB. 4 4 1 



1. opp. or sub-opp., variable in size, 3-10 in., oval or lanceolate- 

 oval, subacute at base, shortly acuminate, obtuse, glabrous, 

 stiffly coriaceous, strongly 3- or 5-nerved, with fine reticulate 

 venation, shining above, slightly paler beneath, bright pink 

 when young, petiole ^-i in., stout, flattened above ; fl. numerous, 

 on rather long slightly pubescent ped., panicles usually longer 

 than 1., lax, peduncles often clustered, long, glabrous or 

 pubescent; perianth about \ in., silky, tube short-campanulate, 

 segm. long, oblong-lanceolate, acute, or obtuse, usually per- 

 sistent ; fruit about \ in., oblong-ovoid, surrounded by much- 

 enlarged perianth, minutely apiculate, dry or slightly fleshy, 

 dark purple. 



Moist low country to about 2000 ft.; common. Fl. February; pale 

 yellow. 



Also in S. India, Burma, and Malay Peninsula. 



The leaves are sweetly aromatic when bruised. The very aromatic 

 bark is the Cinnamon of commerce, and has, doubtless, been collected in 

 Ceylon from wild trees from the earliest times. Ibn Batuta in the four- 

 teenth century, and Nicolo Conti in the fifteenth, both refer to it. But 

 the adtivation appears to date only from the Dutch period ; it is now 

 general on the S.W. coast from Negombo to Matara. The form grown 

 is the large-leaved variety (C. P. 2285) well figured in Wight, Ic. t. 123; 

 it is kept pollarded so as to produce numerous erect shoots, and not 

 allowed to grow into a tree. 



An essential oil is distilled from both the bark and the leaves, the 

 former of which is a large export; the root also affords a camphor. What 

 is known as ' Cinnamon suet' is obtained from the ripe fruit, and is or 

 was used to make scented candles for R. C. Church purposes. 



Laurus Cassia, L. (= Fl. Zeyl. n. 146), is made up partly of wild 

 specimens of this, but is chiefly Litsea zeylanica (q. v.). Cinnamomum 

 Cassia, Nees (the source of Cassia Bark of S. China), is quite another 

 species (figured in Bentl. and Trim. Med. PI. t. 223). 



2. C multiflorum, Wight, Ic. i., No. 7 (1839). Wal-kurundu, S. 



Laurus Culilawan, Moon Cat. 32 (? L.). L. jnultijlora, Roxb. Fl. Ind. 

 ii. 298. C villosuin, C. dubiutn, C. perpetuo-fiorens, Wight, 1. c. C. zey- 

 lanicum, var. /3, Thw. Enum. 252. Van iners. Trim. Syst. Cat. Ceyl. 75. 

 C. iners, Reinw., var. h, diibium, Meissn. 1. c. 20. C. P. 2282, 11. 



Fl. B. Ind. v. 132. Burm. Thes. t. 28 (copied in Wight, Ic. t. 141). 

 Wight, Ic. t. 126, t. 131, t. 127 (C villosum), and t. 135 (C. dubium). 



A small tree, young parts silky-pubescent, 1. opp. or sub- 

 opp., 2^-5 in., ovate-lanceolate, slightly rounded or subacute 

 at base, acuminate, acute, usually glabrous sometimes finely 

 pubescent beneath, slightly coriaceous, 3-nerv^ed ; fl. numerous, 

 on slender silky ped., in more or less umbellate clusters, 

 panicles slender, usually shorter than 1. ; perianth silky, 

 segm. oval, subacute, persistent ; fruit i in., oblong-ovoid, 

 apiculate, surrounded at base by enlarged per,, on much- 

 thickened ped. 



