The genus Cinnamomum

the branch. The mycelium layer penetrates the bark and wood. Small branches die off
due to the fungus infection. On the big branches that are infected the leaves get yellow
and gradually die when the upper branches are infected, and further infection quickly
spreads to the lower branches.
Split canker disease (Endothia sp.)
Symptoms: The disease especially attacks young plants. Split and striped cankers are
seen. The swollen part looks like grafting. The grafting like part is the dead bark.
For striped canker disease, part of the infected stem is removed with a knife and then
painted with fungicides. The heavily infected plants are cut down and destroyed.
Crown-gall disease
Symptoms: Infects plant stems especially the young ones (about five-years old). The
leaves become yellow, and sometimes the plant dies. The bark becomes dry, thick, and
forms a hollow space, rough and brittle. The size of the canker is approximately 5–8 cm.
On older plants (five- to ten-years old), the symptom is intermittent stripes. Brown
ooze flows out from the stripes. The length of the stripes is more or less 2 m, and
depends on the age of the plants.
Gall caused by the bite of Eriophyes doctersi
Symptoms: On the upper surface of young leaves; gall look convex and black. The
leaves are still smooth. The lower surface is more concave with more black spots and
sometimes becomes hairy.
Control measures
Generally, farmers do not apply any fungicides to control the disease. Some sanitation
and eradication of the infected plants is recommended to contain the disease.
Insect pests
Indonesian Cassia (Indonesian Cinnamon) 193
Insect pests affecting the Indonesian cassia include caterpillars of cinnamon butterfly
(Chilasa clytia), leaf miners (Aerocercops spp.), caterpillars of leaf webber (Sorolopha archimedias)
and mole crickets (Gryllotalpa spp.), all of which are damaging to young
seedlings (Dao et al., 1999) (Fig. 7.4). Insecticide application is not practiced.
Chemistry
Chemically, Indonesian cassia is similar to that of Chinese cassia. The bark oil has a composition
similar to Ceylon cinnamon and Chinese cassia oils. Cinnamaldehyde is the major
component in bark and leaf oils. Bark oil is obtained by steam or hydrodistillation and the
yields range from 0.5 to over 2.0%. It is a colourless to brownish-yellow liquid having an
odour similar, but less delicate, to that of the Ceylon cinnamon bark oil (Purseglove et al.,
1981). Reports indicated a cinnamaldehyde content of about 80–95% (Guenther, 1950)
and later studies revealed the presence of alpha-terpineol, coumarin and benzaldehyde in