Laurus champorifera Kaempfer

Cinnamomum camphora is a small, glabrous tree. Leaves alternate and penniverved with stout dormant buds enclosed in large, silky orbicular concave, imbricating caducous scales. Flowers in lax axillary, terminal panicles on the ends of the twigs, creamy white in colour, hermaphroditic, actinomorphic; ovary 1, locular; ovule 1, pendulous or basal; stamens definite, free; anthers opening by valves or slits; embryo minute. The etymology of C. camphora is derived from the Greek word ‘kinnamomon’ (meaning spice). The Greeks borrowed the word from the Phoenicians, indicating that they traded with the East from early times. Cinnamon is recorded in Sanskrit, the Old Testament, and in Greek medicinal works, and was used by Egyptians as early 1485 BC for embalming purposes.

C. camphora flowers are hermaphroditic. The fruit ripens between September and November; it turns black when ripe.

It is reported to grow well on fertile, well-drained, sandy loam soils.

C. camphora occurs throughout much of Southeast Asia, but its exact distribution and abundance are not known with any certainty. Large areas of wild trees once grew in Japan and Taiwan, but these largely disappeared through over-exploitation for camphor production in the years up to World War II.

C. camphora is a native of China, Japan and Taiwan but has been widely planted elsewhere. It was heavily exploited as a source of camphor in Japan and Taiwan until World War II. Trees were felled, and logs, stumps and branches distilled to produce crystalline camphor and camphor oil. The species was introduced into India during the 1950s. The availability of cheap, synthetic camphor (ex turpentine), however, has meant that there is now only modest international demand for the natural form.

C. camphora can be raised from seeds, layers, branch cuttings, root cuttings and root suckers. Propagation by seed, however, is the normal practice. After the pulp has been removed from the fruit, the seed should be sown immediately in beds or trays. The germination rate of fresh seed is about 50%, falling to 25% for seed 6 months old, and 0 for those 1 year old. Soaking seeds for 24 hours in lukewarm water hastens germination.

Although yields of C. camphora are greater for old trees, leaves and woody material can be harvested regularly from plants over 5 years of age, which are kept in a bushy form by coppicing. The Chinese practice this form of harvesting.

C. camphora suffers from leaf blight caused by Glomevella cingulata, but which can be controlled to some extent by spraying with Difolatan and Benlate.

Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Dry seeds can be stored, but longevity is short (12 months) at ambient temperature. There is little loss in viability after 12 months in moist storage at 5 deg. C with about 34% mc. P50 = 250 days when stored 1st at 25 deg. C with 80-91% r.h. for 2 weeks, then at 4 deg. C with 80% r.h. There are approximately 6600-10 000 seeds/kg. This species has been classified as minimally recalcitrant, but no evidence of desiccation sensitivity is given. The fact that seeds can be stored dry at ambient temperatures for 6 months (resulting in 25% germination, compared with 55% germination before storage) suggests that they are not recalcitrant.

Ornamental: In some countries such as Nepal, the tree is not planted for camphor production, but is mainly planted in gardens and at the entrances of houses for religious reasons, and as an ornamental tree, though the wood is valuable.

Timber: The sapwood is whitish or brownish, and the heartwood brownish-yellow with a green cast, or olive to light olive-brown to blackish-brown, with a medium to coarse texture, satiny or silky lustre, straight and often rosy grain, spicy odour, and excellent working qualities. Essential oil: Fractionation of the camphor-free oil obtained from C. camphora provides an oil rich in safrole (80% or more), usually called Chinese sassafras oil. C. camphora is a well-known chemotype; on distillation, the wood from different groups of trees may yield camphor, linalool, safrole or cineole as the major chemical. The use of C. camphora as a source of leaf oil has expanded in recent years, and it is now an important source of natural linalool (which is still preferred over the synthetic form for some fragrant applications). The crude oil obtained by primary distillation of the chipped wood is fractionated to remove camphor and provide safrole-rich oil. A large proportion of the world’s camphor is now produced synthetically from pinene, a turpentine derivative, or from coal tar. Camphor is used in the manufacture of celluloid, in disinfectants and chemical preparations and has a wide range of medicinal uses. Safrole, produced from the residual oil after camphor extraction, is used in soap and perfume manufacture.