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Laurales is the botanical name of an order of flowering plants. The APG II system, of 2003, places this order (of seven families) in the clade magnoliids.
Malabathrum, also known as Malobathrum or Malabar leaf, is the name used in classical and medieval texts for the leaf of the plant Cinnamomum tamala (sometimes given as Cinnamomum tejpata). In ancient Greece and Rome, the leaves were used to prepare a fragrant oil, called Oleum Malabathri, and were therefore valuable. The leaves are mentioned in the 1st century Greek text Periplus Maris Erytraei as one of the major exports of the Tamil kingdoms of southern India. The name is also used in mediaeval texts to describe the dried leaves of a number of trees of the genus Cinnamomum, which were thought to have medicinal properties.
The leaves, known as tejpat in Nepali, tējapattā or tejpatta (तेजपत्ता) in Hindi, Tejpat in Assamese and tamalpatra in Marathi, are used extensively in the cuisines of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, particularly in the Moghul cuisine of North India and Nepal and in Tsheringma herbal tea in Bhutan. It is called Biryani Aaku or Bagharakku in Telugu. They are often erroneously labeled as "Indian bay leaves," though the bay leaf is from the Bay Laurel, a tree of Mediterranean origin in a different genus, and the appearance and aroma of the two are quite different. Bay leaves are shorter and light to medium green in color, with one large vein down the length of the leaf;<sup>photo</sup> while tejpat are about twice as long and wider than laurel leaves. They are usually olive green in color, may have some brownish spots and have three veins down the length of the leaf.<sup>photo</sup> True tejpat leaves impart a strong cassia- or cinnamon-like aroma to dishes, while the bay leaf's aroma is more reminiscent of pine and lemon. Indian grocery stores usually carry true tejpat leaves. Some grocers may only offer Turkish bay leaves, in regions where true tejpat is unavailable.
The bark is also sometimes used for cooking, although it is regarded as inferior to true cinnamon or cassia.
"Malabar" is the name of a region on the west coast of southern India that forms the northern portion of the present-day state of Kerala. The word "Mala" or "Malaya" means "Mountain" in the Tamil and Malayalam languages, as also in Sanskrit. The word "Malabathrum" is also thought to have been derived from the Sanskrit tamālapattram (तमालपत्त्रम्), literally meaning "dark-tree leaves."
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, synonym C. zeylanicum) is a small evergreen tree 10–15 metres (32.8–49.2 feet) tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, and is native to Sri Lanka.<ref name=EB></ref>
The leaves are ovate-oblong in shape, 7–18 cm (2.75–7.1 inches) long. The flowers, which are arranged in panicles, have a greenish color, and have a distinct odor. The fruit is a purple one-centimeter berry containing a single seed.
Its flavor is due to an aromatic essential oil that makes up 0.5% to 1% of its composition. This oil is prepared by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in seawater, and then quickly distilling the whole. It is of a golden-yellow color, with the characteristic odor of cinnamon and a very hot aromatic taste. The pungent taste and scent come from cinnamic aldehyde or cinnamaldehyde and, by the absorption of oxygen as it ages, it darkens in colour and develops resinous compounds. Chemical components of the essential oil include ethyl cinnamate, eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, beta-caryophyllene, linalool, and methyl chavicol.
The name cinnamon comes from Greek kinnámōmon, itself ultimately from Phoenician. The botanical name for the spice—Cinnamomum zeylanicum—is derived from Sri Lanka's former (colonial) name, Ceylon.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/south_asia_sri_lanka0s_spice_of_life/html/1.stm
In Malayalam it is called as "karugapatta" and in Tamil "pattai" or "lavangappattai." In Indonesia, where it is cultivated in Java and Sumatra, it is called "kayu manis" and sometimes "cassia vera". In Sri Lanka, in the original Sinhala, cinnamon is known as "kurundu," recorded in English in the 17th century as Korunda. In Sanskrit cinnamon is known as "tvak" or "dārusitā. In Urdu, Hindi, and Hindustani cinnamon is called dalchini, in Assamese it is called "alseni," and in Gujarati "taj." In Arabic it is called "qerfa."
Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum, synonym C. cassia) is an evergreen tree native to southern China, Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam. Like its close relative, cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, also known as "true cinnamon" or "Ceylon cinnamon"), it is used primarily for its aromatic bark, which is used as a spice, often under the culinary name of "cinnamon". The buds are also used as a spice, especially in India, and were once used by the ancient Romans.
The Cassia tree grows to 10-15 m tall, with greyish bark and hard elongated leaves that are 10-15 cm long and have a decidedly reddish colour when young.
Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains over 300 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Central America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Australasia.
Notable Cinnamomum species include Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum or C. zeylanicum, also known as "true cinnamon" or Ceylon Cinnamon), Cassia (C. aromaticum or C. cassia), Camphor Laurel (C. camphora), Saigon Cinnamon (C. loureiroi, also known as Vietnamese cinnamon, Vietnamese cassia, or Saigon cassia), Malabathrum (C. tamala, also known as C. tejpata; tejpat or tej pat in Hindi; or, inaccurately, "Indian bay leaf").
Saigon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi, also known as Vietnamese cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia and Quế Trà My or Quế Thanh in Vietnam) is an evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum, indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia. Despite its name, it is more closely related to Cassia (C. aromaticum) than to Cinnamon (C. verum), though in the same genus as both. Saigon cinnamon has 1-5% essential oil in content and 25% cinnamaldehyde in essential oil, which is the highest of any cinnamon all over the world. Consequently, out of the three forms of Cassia, it commands the highest price. Saigon cinnamon is considered to be the fame of Cao Sơn Ngọc Quế (gem cinnamon on high mountain).
The scientific name was originally spelled as Cinnamomum loureirii, but because the species is named after the botanist João de Loureiro, this is to be treated under the ICBN as an orthographic error for the correctly derived spelling of loureiroi.
Cinnamomum citriodorum, commonly known as Malabar cinnamon, is an evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum.
Cinnamomum osmophloeum, commonly known as pseudocinnamomum or indigenous cinnamon, is an evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum. It is native to Taiwan.
Cinnamaldehyde, an essential oil extracted from C. osmophloeum, has numerous commercial uses. Also, it is a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, hence a potential drug for treatment of hyperuricemia and related medical conditions including gout.<ref name="pmid18693097"></ref>
[Abstract not available for the category]
Cinnamomum pedunculatum, commonly known as Japanese Cinnamon, is an evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum.
[Abstract not available for the category]
Calycanthus (sweetshrub, spicebush or strawberry-bush) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Calycanthaceae, endemic to North America. The genus includes two to four species depending on taxonomic interpretation; two are accepted by the Flora of North America.
They are deciduous shrubs growing to 2-4 m tall. The leaves are opposite, entire, 5-15 cm long and 2-6 cm broad. The flowers are produced in early summer after the leaves, 4-7 cm broad, with numerous spirally-arranged narrow dark red tepals (resembling a small magnolia flower); they are strongly scented. The fruit is an elliptic dry capsule 5-7 cm long, containing numerous seeds.
;Species *Calycanthus floridus (Carolina Sweetshrub). Pennsylvania and Ohio south to Mississippi and northern Florida. **Calycanthus floridus var. floridus (syn. C. mohrii). Twigs pubescent. **Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus (syn. C. fertilis). Twigs glabrous. *Calycanthus occidentalis (California Sweetshrub). California (widespread), Washington (local, Seattle area).
Sassafras is a genus of three<ref name="fna"/><ref name="nie"/> species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.<ref name=nie></ref>
Sassafras trees grow from 15–35 m (50–120 feet) tall and 70–150 cm (2.5–6 feet) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark. The branching is sympodial. The bark of the mature trunk is thick, red-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, hard and sometimes brittle. It can be used to make a serviceable bow if properly worked. All parts of the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three pronged; rarely the leaves can be five-lobed).<ref name=noble>Noble Plant Image Gallery Sassafras (includes photo of five-lobed leaf)</ref> They have smooth margins and grow 7–20 cm long by 5–10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a citrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are five-petaled and bloom in the spring; they are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit are blue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late summer.<ref name=fna>Flora of North America: ''Sassafras''</ref>
The name "Sassafras," applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, is said to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.
