Cinnamomum porrectum (Roxb.) Kosterm.
Family
Lauraceae
Synonyms
Cinnamomum glanduliferum C. Nees, Cinnamomum parthenoxylon (Jack) C. Nees, Cinnamomum sumatranum (Miq.) Meissner.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Medang kemangi (Peninsular), keplah wangi (Sarawak), bunsod (Sabah). |
| English | Safrol laurel. |
| Indonesia | Medang lesah (General), ki sereh (Sundanese, Java), selasihan (Javanese, Java), rawali (Kalimantan). |
| Thailand | Thep-tharo (Central). |
| Myanmar | Karawa. |
| Vietnam |
Re huong. |
Geographical Distributions
Cinnamomum porrectum is found in India, Burma (Myanmar), through Indo-China, Thailand and southern China, towards Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
Description
Cinnamomum porrectum is a medium-sized to large, more or less deciduous tree up to 45 m tall. The bole is straight, cylindrical, measures up to 105 cm in diametre and sometimes buttressed. The surface of the bark is deeply irregularly fissured or cracked, dark grey or greyish-brown while the inner bark is reddish-brown and laminated.
The leaves are subopposite to spiral, measuring 5-15 cm x 2.5-8 cm, with wedge-shaped to rounded base, blunt to acuminate at apex, smooth and with 3-8 pairs of lateral veins. The main veins are prominent above, with reticulate tertiary venation, faint on both surfaces and with petiole 1.2-3 cm long.
The inflorescence is an axillary or pseudo-terminal panicle measuring 2.5-15 cm long. The flowers are smooth or sparingly hairy.
The fruit is spherical to slightly depressed spherical, measuring 0.8-1 cm across, seated on a funnel-shaped perianth cup and with an entire margin.
Ecology / Cultivation
Cinnamomum porrectum is widely distributed and locally common in lowland to montane forests, sometimes in regions with a pronounced dry season, on both fertile and poor soils, usually in well-drained locations, up to 2000 (-3000) m altitude. The density of the wood is 400-860 kg/m3 at 15% moisture content.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.5(2): Timber trees: Minor commercial timbers.
