Cinnamomum
Shrub or trees to 50 m tall, with or without buttresses. Bark, root and crushed leaves often with a characteristic smell of cinnamon (cinnamic aldehyde), cloves (eugenol), sassafras (safrole), camphor (camphor) or a combination of these odours. Twig terete or angular, usually apically angular or subangular, 1−5 mm diameter, hairy or glabrous. Terminal buds not perulate or rarely perulate, glabrous or hairy. Leaves opposite to subopposite or rarely alternate, rarely at twig-end the leaves are arranged closely in spiral; triplinerved, trinerved or rarely penninerved, if trinerved or triplinerved, the lateral veins ascend toward the leaf tip or between 1/2−2/3 of the lamina length; mature blades glabrous above, glabrous or hairy below, frequently glaucous below, margin entire; major intercostal veins scalariform, subscalariform or rarely reticulate; minor intercostal veins reticulate or scalariform. Inflorescences axillary or subterminal; paniculate-cymose with 1–3 order branching, flowers of the ultimate branch arranged in cyme, rarely racemiform; rachis angular; bracts caducous or persistent. Flowers bisexual, trimerous, apressed hairy; receptacle tube shallow, 0.5–3 mm deep; perianth lobes 6 in 2 whorls, equal; fertile stamens 9, in 3 whorls, filaments 1/4−3/4 the length of stamen; anthers 2- to 4-locular, if 4-locular the locules of the upper pair smaller than that of the lower pair, anther of the first and second whorls of stamens introrse, those of the third whorl extrorse-latrorse; third whorl stamens with 2 stipitate reniform glands attached on each side of the filaments; the gland stalks free or fused with the filaments; staminodes 3, in the fourth whorl, stipitate, hairy, apex sagittate or hastate; ovary superior, stigma subpeltate, peltate, discoid or trilobed. Fruits ellipsoid, obovoid, ovoid to globose seated on cupule, drupaceous, epicarp waxy, glabrous, pericarp thin or thick, often fragrant; cupule small to well-developed, subtending the lower part of the fruit; perianth lobes persistent, partly persistent or caducous. Seeds 1 per fruit, smooth, glabrous; endosperm absent; germination hypogeal.
In Borneo, Cinnamomum species are widely distributed and occur from lowland to montane forest at altitudes to 2000 m in both secondary and primary forest on various soil types. Cinnamomum calciphilum is the only species in Borneo restricted to limestone habitat.
The wood of Cinnamomum is a source of timber traded under the name camphorwood or medang (Malay). The wood is used for construction, furniture making, plywood and interior finishing. Several species are cultivated commercially for cinnamon (C. verum) and cassia (C. burmannii, C. cassia J.Presl., C. tamala T. Nees & Eberm. and C. loureirii Nees), which are used as spice and source of essential oils. Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J.Presl. is cultivated as important source of camphor. Some species are planted as landscape trees (e.g., C. iners) (Ibrahim et al. 1995; Flach & Siemonsma 1999; Nguyên et al. 1999; Nirmal Babu et al. 2003).
In Borneo, different parts of the plant including the leaves, bark or root are used on either on their own or in conjunction with other plants as medicinal treatments for headache (C. crassinervium), stomach ache (C. crasssinervium, C. grandifolium, C. javanicum, C. rhynchophyllum, C. sintoc), wounds (C. sintoc), joint or muscle pain (C. subcuneatum, C. politum), fever (C. subcuneatum), lethargy (C. javanicum), chest pain (C. javanicum) and as a postnatal tonic (C. paiei Kosterm.). The twig itself is used as charm to repel evil spirit (C. burmannii, C. subcuneatum), or fumes from it are used as a fumigant (C. racemosum). The fruits of C. lawang are used to make jewellery.
