The genus Cinnamomum

202 Akhil Baruah and Subhan C. Nath
undulate, broadly elliptic-lanceolate, apex acute, base decurrently acute to acute,
variable in size, 2.1–7.8 5.5–20 cm, triplinerved, lateral nerves not continued to
the tip, suprabasal perfect to imperfect, midrib moderate, nervules prominent on
both surfaces: petiole concave above, up to 2 cm long. Inflorescence paniculate
cyme, sub-terminal to axillary, not stout, pale yellowish-green, sub-quadrangular,
silky pubescent, glabrate with age, shorter or equal to the leaves, up to 11 cm long
(2 ° peduncle up to 4 cm long), flowers 4–5 cm long, perianth 3 3, outer broadly
elliptic-lanceolate, 2.5–3 mm long, inner elliptic-lanceolate, 2 mm long, silky
puberulous on both surfaces; stamens 3 3 3, 1.5 mm long, minutely puberulous
to tomentose at base, pale yellowish-green, anther four-locular, introrse, whorl
III extrorse, glands white, attached at 1/3 of the base of the filament; staminode 3,
1 mm long, white, minutely puberulous, head sagittate; pistil 1.5 mm long,
minutely puberulous, stigma capitate, ovary elliptic to globose.
Significant foliar epidermal and venation characteristics: Epidermal cells pentagonal to
polygonal and sinuous, hypostomatic, stomata sunken, stomata/mm2 472, stomatal
index 16.23, areoles tetragonal to polygonal, veinlet entering present, average frequency
of areole/mm2 7.27 (Baruah, 2000; Baruah and Nath, 1998).
Significant essential oil characteristics: Leaves are aromatic, spicy and yield about
0.7% volatile oil (FWB), golden-yellow in colour, refractive index (25 °C) 1.4980. On
GC analysis, 17 components representing 94.04% of the total oil of the leaves can be
identified (Nath et al., 1999), where eugenol alone constitutes 57.90% of the oil.
The other components of above 1% concentration in the oil are -phellandrene
(5.45%), p-cymene (2.68%), 1,8-cineole (4.35%), terpinen-4-ol (2.25%), eugenyl
acetate (8.73%), -farnesene (7.90%) and caryophyllene oxide (2.90%).
Phenology: Flowers from March to May; Fruits from June to August.
Occurrence and distribution: Found in the lower Assam zone, but rare in occurrence.
Use: Leaves are known as tejpat in the zone. Rarely sold commercially.
C. tamala type 4
Excepting the leaf morphology, this type is similar to type 1. In this type, the leaves
are comparatively smaller in size (1.5–3 6–15 cm) and its shape varies from elliptic
to oblong-lanceolate, apex acuminate, base cuneatly acute.
Significant foliar epidermal and venation characteristics: Epidermal cells pentagonal to
polygonal and sinuous, hypostomatic, stomata sunken, stomata/mm2 611, stomatal
index 19.88, areoles tetragonal to polygonal, veinlet entering present, average frequency
of areole/mm2 8.90 (Baruah, 2000; Baruah and Nath, 1998).
Significant essential oil characteristics: Leaves are strongly aromatic, spicy and yield
about 1.5% volatile oil (FWB), pale yellow in colour, refractive index (25 °C)
1.5248. On GC analysis, 12 components representing 97.7% of the total oil of
the leaves can be identified (Nath et al., 1999), where eugenol alone constitutes
82.50% of the oil. The other components of above 1% concentration in the oil
are -phellandrene (6.38%), p-cymene (1.09%), caryophyllene (1.47%), and eugenyl
acetate (4.36%).