Cinnamomum verum J.Presl

26. Cinnamomum verum J.Presl View in CoL – Map 9 View Map 9

Cinnamomum verum J.Presl (1825) 36; Kosterm. (1965) 141; (1982) 14; (1985) 126. — Type: Laurus cinnamomum L., Herb.Cliffort:154, Laurus 6, sheet 6B (lecto BM, barcode BM000558701, here designated) (see Jarvis 2007: 16 on lectotypification).

Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (1826) View in CoL 568; Merr. (1921) 273; Masam. (1942) 309. — Type: Blume s.n. (lecto L, barcode L0036032 , here designated), Java.

Cinnamomum alexei Kosterm.(1969) View in CoL 454, syn. nov. — Type: Buwalda 3618 (holo BO; iso L), Java, Tjampaka near Tjidadap, Mt Karang .

Tree to 6 –18 m tall, 20– 30 cm diam. Bark smooth or fissured, greyish brown; inner bark strongly scented with cinnamon smell. Sapwood yellowish. Twigs stout, terete, 2 –3 mm diam, apically angular, glabrous, dark brown. Terminal buds not perulate, conical, c. 2 mm, densely covered with straight appressed hairs. Leaves opposite or subopposite, drying pale greenish brown, triplinerved or trinerved, coriaceous, glabrous below; blade not bullate, without domatia, ovate, 8 –12(–14) by 3 – 6(–9) cm, base cuneate or rounded, apex acute with blunt tip; midrib raised on both sides, to 1 mm broad; lateral veins raised on both sides, extending to 2/3– 3/4 length of blade; major intercostal veins finely, raised, subscalariform, 3–10 mm apart, less prominent than midrib; minor intercostal veins faint, reticulate; petiole slender, flat above, glabrous, 0.5– 2 cm long, 1–2 mm diam. Inflorescences axillary and/or subterminal, paniculate-cymose with first to second order branching, to 12 cm long; rachis 1–1.5 mm broad, appressed hairy. Flowers drying greyish appressed hairy; pedicel slender, c. 5 mm long; hypanthium 1–2 mm high; perianth lobes lanceolate to elliptic, 3–4 mm long, appressed hairy on both sides; fertile stamens 2 – 3 mm long, anthers 4-locular, filaments c. 3/4 the length of the stamen; glands sessile attached on each side at the middle of filaments, flattish; staminodes 1.5 – 2 mm long, hastate; ovary globose, c. 1.5 mm diam, stigma trilobed. Infructescences to 12 cm long. Fruits ellipsoid, 10 –13 by 7 mm; cupule cup-shaped, thick, c. 7 mm high, 4 mm diam, appressed hairy, glabrescent; perianth lobes persistent, indurate, apex truncate, c. 2 by 2 mm; pedicel stout, 3 –5 mm long, appressed hairy.

Distribution — Cultivated in Sarawak (Kuching district), Sabah (Keningau and Sandakan districts) and Kalimantan. This species originated from Sri Lanka and is widely cultivated in the tropics as a source of cinnamon.

Habitat & Ecology — In Borneo cultivated at low altitude.

Uses — The bark is used as a spice, the oil from the bark is used as a flavouring agent in food and pharmaceutical industries, as medicine and in the perfumery industry (for more detail on usage see Flach & Siemonsma 1999).