Cinnamomum
macrocarpum
Hook.f.
LAURACEAE
Vernacular names:
Kannada - Kadu dalchini, Lavanga patte
Malayalam - Karuva
Sanskrit - Tamalapatra
Tamil - Periya lavanga pattai
Telugu - Talisapatramu
Threat status:
Vulnerable
(A 1 c,d)
-
Globally
Habit:
Tree
Habitat: Moist deciduous to shola forests
Altitude: 600 - 1800 m
Distribution: Endemic to Western Ghats of southern India.
Regional:
In
Karnataka, occurs in dense wet forests of Belgaum, Goorg, Hassan,
Kolar, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts. In
Kerala, fairly common in Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and
Thiruvananthapuram forests. In Tamil Nadu, common in the Western
Ghats of Coimbatore, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli and Madurai districts.
Description:
A medium
sized tree, up to 15 m tall and about 75 cm girth. Bark
smooth, grey to light brown, about 5 mm thick, smelling like
clove when cut. Branchlets thick, angular, hairless. Leaves
opposite and sub-opposite, thick-leathery, hairless,
egg-shaped-elliptic to oblonglanceolate, 7-25 x 2-12 cm, base
wedge-shaped, apex rounded to shortly acuminate, glossy,
fragrant; nerves 3-5, arising from the base of the leaf,
prominent, reaching nearly to the apex; leaf stalks stout, 1-2
cm long. Flowers bisexual, dull yellow, distinctly
stalked, arranged in axillary paniculate cymes. Panicles
branched, 5-7 cm long, stout, hairless with flattened peduncle;
each cyme about 3-flowered. Berries ellipsoid,
about 2 x 2.5 cm, hairless, greenish pink ripening purplish
brown, seated on a fleshy inverted cone-like disc, which is
about 1.5 cm long.
Phenology:
Flowering &
Fruiting:
December
to June
Notes:
The spicy
leaves and bark are substituted/adulterated to the commercial
cinnamon (Cinnamomum
zeylanicum)
by local
traders. Destructive collection of this endemic species might
ultimately lead to shrinkage of existing wild populations. This
warrants urgent conservation measures.
Medicinal uses:
The bark
is used for cough, diarrhoea and dysentery. Oil from the root
bark and leaves is applied externally in rheumatic affections.
Trade
information:
Local and
regional. Leaves are sold under the name Lavanga patTe in
Bangalore market, as an admixture of several species of
Cinnamomum.
Mode
of
propagation:
By seeds,
cuttings and divisions of old rootstocks
Special
characters:
The bark
has a pleasant aromatic smell. Leaves are fragrant and
distinctly 3-5 nerved from the base. Fruits are seated on
enlarged fleshy cup-like discs.
