Ceyloninkaneli – Cinnamomum verum

In an unharvested state, the trunk is 30-60 cm in diameter, with a thick, grey, aromatic bark and the branches set low down. Leaves are stiff, alternate and opposite, aromatic, without stipules. Petiole is 1-2 cm long, grooved onthe upper surface. Lamina is usually 5-18 x 3-10 cm, ovate or elliptic, strongly 3-veined from near base. The young leaves are reddish, later turning dark green above with paler veins and pale glaucous beneath. Flowers are borne in loose axillary and terminal panicles on the ends of twigs. Peduncles are creamy white, softly hairy, 5-7 cm long. Individual flowers are about 3 mm in diameter, pale yellow, with a foetid smell, each subtended by a small, ovate, hairy bract. The calyx is campanulate, yellowish, pubescent with 6 acutely pointed sepals. Corolla is absent. Stamens are 9 with glands at base. Anthers open by 4 small valves. Fruit is a fleshy black ovoid drupe, 1.5-2 cm long, 1-seeded, with the enlarged calyx at the base.