The genus Cinnamomum

40 P.N. Ravindran et al.
f
sc
st
1 2
cpr
cse
4 5 6
7 8 9
f
oc
st
muc
mr
ph
bf
thick walled and lignified with small uneven lumen, having inconspicuous slit shaped
pits; (iii) starch grains present abundantly, found scattered, small, simple or compound;
(iv) thin-walled oil cells, large ovoid and usually occur singly; (v) thin-walled parenchyma
and medullary rays of the phloem, the medullary ray cells contain acicular crystals of
calcium oxalate; and (vi) the presence of cork cells, thin-walled and polygonal in surface
3
500 µm
Figure 2.9a Cinnamon bark – diagrams illustrating the transverse sections of commercial grades
of Sri Lankan Cinnamon. 1 – Alba; 2 – Continental 5 – special; 3 – Continental 5; 4 –
Continental 4; 5 – Mexican 5; 6 – Mexican 4; 7 – Hamburg 1 (thin bark); 8 – Hamburg
1 (thick); 9 – Hamburg 2. bf – phloem fibre, cpr – primary cortex, cse – secondary
cortex, f – fibre, mr – medullary ray, muc – mucilage cell, oc – oil cell, ph – phloem,
sc – selereid, st – stone cell. (Source: Namba et al., 1987.)
sc
st
oc