Cinnamomum verum J.Presl, Prir. Rostlin 2: 36 (1823)

Synonyms
Camphorina cinnamomum (L.) Farw.
Cinnamomum aromaticum J.Graham
Cinnamomum barthii Lukman.
Cinnamomum bengalense Lukman.
Cinnamomum biafranum Lukman.
Cinnamomum bonplandii Lukman.
Cinnamomum boutonii Lukman.
Cinnamomum capense Lukman.
Cinnamomum carolinense var. oblongum Kaneh.
Cinnamomum cayennense Lukman.
Cinnamomum cinnamomum (L.) H.Karst. [Invalid]
Cinnamomum commersonii Lukman.
Cinnamomum cordifolium Lukman.
Cinnamomum decandollei Lukman.
Cinnamomum delessertii Lukman.
Cinnamomum ellipticum Lukman.
Cinnamomum erectum Lukman.
Cinnamomum humboldtii Lukman.
Cinnamomum iners Wight [Illegitimate]
Cinnamomum karrouwa Lukman.
Cinnamomum leptopus A.C.Sm.
Cinnamomum leschenaultii Lukman.
Cinnamomum madrassicum Lukman.
Cinnamomum maheanum Lukman.
Cinnamomum mauritianum Lukman.
Cinnamomum meissneri Lukman.
Cinnamomum ovatum Lukman.
Cinnamomum pallasii Lukman.
Cinnamomum pleei Lukman.
Cinnamomum pourretii Lukman.
Cinnamomum regelii Lukman.
Cinnamomum roxburghii Lukman.
Cinnamomum sieberi Lukman.
Cinnamomum sonneratii Lukman.
Cinnamomum vaillantii Lukman.
Cinnamomum variabile Lukman.
Cinnamomum wolkensteinii Lukman.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume [Illegitimate]
Cinnamomum zeylanicum Breyn.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum var. cassia Meisn.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum var. cordifolium Hayne
Cinnamomum zeylanicum var. foeniculaceum Meisn.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum var. inodorum Meisn.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum var. microphyllum Meisn.
Cinnamomum zollingeri Lukman.
Laurus cinnamifera Stokes
Laurus cinnamomea Salisb.
Laurus cinnamomum L.
Laurus montana Link ex Meisn.
Laurus rigida Wall.
Persea cinnamomum Spreng.

Diagnostics
Small tree with strongly scented bark (cinnamom). Twigs glabrous, with only the tip hairy. Stipules absent. Petiole 0.5-2 cm long. Leaves (sub-)opposite, tri-veined, glabrous, up to 12 by 6 cm. Inflorescences branched, up to 12 cm long, hairy, with small whitish flowers. Fruits purple-black drupes up to 13 mm long, with cupule at base.

Description
Tree to 6-18 m tall, 20-30 cm diameter. Bark smooth or fissured, greyish brown; inner bark strongly scented with cinnamon smell. Sapwood yellowish. Twigs stout, terete, 2-3 mm diameter, apically angular, glabrous, dark brown. Terminal buds not perulate, conical, c. 2 mm, densely covered with straight appressed haris. 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 diameter. 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 stamen; glands sessile attach on each side at the middle of filaments, flattish; staminodes 1.5-2 mm long, hastate; ovary globose, c. 1.5 mm diameter, stigma trilobed. Infructescences to 12 cm long. Fruits ellipsoid, 10-13 by 7 mm; cupule cup-shaped, thick, c. 7 mm high, 4 mm diameter, appressed hairy, glabrescent; perianth lobes persistent, indurate, apex truncate, c. 2 by 2 mm; pedicel stout, 3-5 mm long, appressed hairy. [from Wild Cinnamon of Borneo]

Ecology
Lowland forests.

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.

Distribution
Native to Sri Lanka, but currently cultivated across the tropics.

Local names
English: Ceylon cinnamon, Sri Lanka cinnamon.
Sri Lanka: Kahata kurundu, Mapat kurundu, Naga kurundu, Pani kurundu, Pani miris kurundu, Pat kurundu, Pieris kurundu, Sewala kurundu, Weli kurundu.