Cinnamomum wightii Meissn.

Cinnamomum wightii Meissn.

Know our Plant

Systematic Classification

Division   : Angiospermae 
Class      : Dicotyledons
Order      : Laurales
Family     : Lauraceae
Genus      : Cinnamomum
Species    : wightii

Common Name:

Kattukaruva, Shanthamaram, Vellakodala

General Information:

Trees, to 8 m high, bark 5-10 mm, grey, smooth, thin, pustular, without aromatic smell; branchlets stiff, smooth, glabrous. Apical bud small, densely minutely sericeous. Leaves simple, opposite or spirally arranged, 3.5-20 x 2.5-7.5 cm, elliptic, ovate, elliptic-ovate or elliptic-oblong, apex obtusely acute or obtusely shortly acuminate, base cuneate, slightly decurrent, margin entire, glabrous, glossy above, pale, subglaucous, smooth or obscurely, minutely pitted beneath, coriaceous; 3-5 or sometimes 7-ribbed from at or a little above the base, very slender, slightly prominulous, the side ribs reaching half to two third the lamina length, becomes obscure; intercostae scalariform, very faint; petiole 10-20 mm long, stout, flattened above.

Flowers bisexual, 5-6 mm long, densely fulvous-sericeous, in axillary and pseudo-terminal, short and compact but long peduncled panicle of 10-14 cm long; peduncle stout; branchlets few upto 1 cm, densely, minutely adpressed fulvous pilose; pedicel 5 mm long, thick, obconic. Perianth tube 1 m long, funnel shaped; tepals 6, 3-5 mm long, thick, ovate to oblong-ovate, acute. Stamens 9 perfect, in 3 rows, upto 2 mm long, those of first and second row opposite the perianth lobes, introrse and eglandular, those of third row opposite the first row, extrorse bearing large stipitate glands as long as filaments; filaments pilose, anthers 4-celled, broadly ovate; staminodes of fourth row opposite the second row, narrowly sagittate, pilose, stipitate, almost as long as the stamens. Ovary ellipsoid, half inferior; style as long with minute, peltate stigma. Fruit a berry, upto 1 x 1.5 cm, ellipsoid, subtended by fleshy obconical pedicel, margin 1 cm across bearing 0.5 mm long basal remnants of the tepals.

Economic Importance:

  • The bark is used in the Ayurveda and Sidha systems of medicine.
  • The plant is used for treating wounds, fever, intestinal worms, headaches and menstrual problems.
  • The bark, leaves and oil obtained from the plant are used to treat paralytic disorders, deficiency in digestive power, abdominal disorders, cough, dysuria and gynaecological disorders.
  • The tender fruits, including the style and calyx, are astringent, aromatic, carminative and stimulant. They are used to treat wounds, fever, intestinal worms, headache and menstrual problems.