128 cxxvin. LAURINE^E. (J. D. Hooker.) \_Cinnamomum. 



7. CINNA1VXOBIUIVI,, Shime. 



Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, usually triple- 

 nerved. Flowers small, 2-sexual or polygamous, in axillary and subterminal 

 panicles ; females usually largest, with often fewer parts. Perianth-tube 

 short; segments 6, subequal. Perfect stamens 9 or fewer, filaments of 1st 

 and 2nd series eglandular, with introrse 4-celled anthers; of the 3rd 2- 

 glandular with extrorse 4-(rarely 2-)celled anthers ; staminodes of the 4th 

 series cordate or sagittate. Fruit seated on the enlarged perianth, the 

 segments of which .are wholly or in part deciduous, or very rarely per- 

 sistent and entire. Species about 130 ?, tropical and subtropical Eastern 

 Asia, Australia and the Pacific. 



The following is a very impfrfect account of the British Indian Cinnamoma', to 

 discriminate the species of which with any approach to completeness or accuracy re- 

 quires a careful study of living specimens. I am so uncertain of the limits of the 

 described species and their synonymy, that I have sparingly quoted from such authors 

 as Miquel and Nees, who must often have worked upon very incomplete materials ; 

 and from referring to extra-Indian species, which may or may not be identical with 

 Indian. Meissner did much towards reforming the genus, but more remains to be 

 done. I have retained a good many species that I suspect will not stand. In the 

 " Genera Plantarum " it is suggested that the genus may be reduced to ten species, 

 but I do not see my way to this. The fruiting perianth is incorrectly described in 

 that work ; it is usually greatly enlarged, and the lobes sometimes persist. 



Sect. I. IVZalabathrum. Suds naked or with very small scales. 

 Leaves opposite, triple-nerved, rarely alternate or penninerved ; axils of prin- 

 cipal nerves without pits. 



* Leaves opposite or subopposite, triple-nerved. 

 a. Species of the Himalaya and Northern India. 



1. C. Tamala, *Fr. Nees in Nees <$f Eberm. Med. PJiarm. Sot. ii. 426, 

 and Plant. Officin.fasc. 4 ; leaves 3-10 in. ovate oblong or lanceolate usually 

 acuminate 3-nerved, nerves not impressed above, panicles scarcely exceeding 

 the leaves, perianth sparingly silky-pubescent, lobes deciduous in fruit, 

 stamens and ovary villous, fruit small ellipsoid. Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xv. 

 1. 17 ; JIayne, Arnz. Grew. xii. t. 26 ; Slume RumpJi. t. 14, f . 3, 4 ; Nees in 

 Wall. PL As. Ear. ii. 75, and Syst. Laurin. 56; Srand. For. Fl. 374; 

 Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 306. C. albiflorum, Nees in Wall PI. As. Ear. 

 ii. 75, and iii. 32, and in Syst. Laurin. 58 ; Wight Ic. 1. 140 ; Slume Rumph. 

 1. 14, f. 2 ?. C. Cassia, Don Prodr. 67 (not of Linn.}. C. pauciflorum, var. 

 ? /3. Tazia, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xv. 1. 17. Persea Tamala, Spreng. Syst. 

 ii. 268. Laurus Cassia, Boxb. Sort. Sena. 30; Wall. Cat. 2580. L. albi- 

 &ora,,'Wall. Cat. 2569. L. Tamala, Tazia, Somcaurium & Sailyana, Ham. 

 in Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. 555-558. 



TROPICAL and SUBTROPICAL HIMALAYA ; from near the Indus to Bhotan, alt. 

 3-5000 ft., ascending to 7800 in Sikkim. SILHET and KHASIA MTS., alt. 3-4000 ft. 



A moderate-sized tree. Leaves usually 4-5 in. long, very variable in breadth, 

 rarely alternate, shining above, rarely elliptical and obtuse, venules below very ob- 

 scure, more distinct in Sikkim specimens; a single specimen from the Deyra doon 

 (Falconer) has broader (2| in.) leaves with 5 nerves. Flowers -y in. long. Fruit 

 \ in. long; peduncle and calyx small, \ in. long, the latter usually \ in. diam. with 

 truncate lobes. Khasian specimens from the Bor-panee River have leaves only -1 in. 

 diam. Brandis is the authority for this species advancing westward to near the Indus ; 

 Garwhal is the most western locality known to me. Meissner's three varieties have 

 110 dis tinctive characters. 



2. C. obtusifolium, Nees in Wall. PL As. Bar. ii. 73, and Syst. 



