The genus Cinnamomum

Indian Cassia 203
Ecology and distribution: Found abundantly in both wild and cultivated conditions in
Meghalaya up to an altitude of 1250 m, and in the North Cachar Hills of Assam up to
an altitude of 1050 m.
Use: The leaves are commonly known as Teji-bol or Dieng latyrpet in Meghalaya. It is the
main component of the tejpat market of Shillong from where it is transported to other places.
Other Species Traded as Tejpat
C. impressinervium Meissn
This is a mid-sized evergreen tree; 6–7.5 m tall; branchlets terete and slender; bark
rough, aromatic, brown, inside creamish-brown, on exposure turning brown, 6–10 mm
thick; leaf buds silky; leaves alternate, sub-opposite or opposite on the same twig,
coriaceous, smell like tejpat leaves, glabrous, shining above, dark green, pale below,
elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, base decurrently acute,
variable in size, 2.5–3.8 7–14 cm, triplinerved, lateral nerves reaching near the base
of the acumen, suprabasal, midrib stout, 2° nerves sub-horizontal, nervules not so
distinct; petiole stout, slightly concave above, 0.8–1.1 cm long; panicle sub-terminal
to axillary, shorter than leaves, up to 6.5 cm long, glabrate, perianth 3 3, sub-equal,
minutely puberulous on truncate cup-shaped fruiting tepals, pedicel obconic, pedicel
with fruiting tepal up to 8 mm long.
Significant foliar epidermal and venation characteristics: Epidermal cells pentagonal to
polygonal and highly sinuous, hypostomatic, stomata sunken, stomata/mm2 550,
stomatal index 19.52, areoles tetragonal to polygonal, vein endings simple, average
frequency of areole/mm2 7.88 (Baruah and Nath, 1997, 1998).
Significant essential oil characteristics: Leaves are aromatic, similar to that of C. tamala
leaves and yield 2.00% (FWB) volatile oil, oil yellowish-brown in colour. Refractive
Index (25 °C) 1.5320. On GC analysis, ten components representing 96.80% of the
total oil of the leaves can be identified (Nath et al., 1999) where eugenol alone constitutes
88.3% of the oil. The other components of above 1% concentration in the oil are
-3-carene (1.6%), limonene (4.1%) and eugenyl acetate (1.1%).
Phenology: Flowers from February–April; Fruits from May–August.
Occurrence and distribution: Found in the North Cachar Hills and Cachar districts of
Assam at an altitude between 800–1050 m, but is rare in other areas of north-east
India. Also seen under cultivated stands in those areas.
Use: Leaves are used as ‘best quality tejpat’ among the people of the North Cachar Hills
and Cachar districts of Assam and is even sold in the local markets under the same name.
C. sulphuratum Nees
A moderately sized evergreen tree; bark dark brown; leaves alternate, sub-opposite or
opposite on the same twig, coriaceous, aromatic, glabrous, shining above, dark green,
pale beneath, elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly ovate-lanceolate, apex sharply acute to
shortly acuminate, base acute to cuneatly acute, variable in size, 2.6–4.8 9.5–18 cm,
triplinerved, lateral nerves not reaching the tip of apex, basal to suprabasal perfect or