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Canella winterana (L.) Gaertn.

Wild cinnamon (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Canellales > Canellaceae > Canella

Characteristics

A small tree. It grows 15 m tall. The crown is dense. The leaves are oval or spoon shaped. They are simple and dark green. They are 10 cm long by 4 cm wide and are glossy. They have an aroma. The flowers are in tight clusters at the ends of branches. The flowers have an aroma. They are purple, violet or red. The fruit is a berry 1 cm across. They are bright red and become purple as they ripen.
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Leaf blade 5-15 × 2-5cm, apex rounded or blunt; abaxial surface pellucid-dotted. Flowers ca. 7 mm diam., pedicel short; sepals green, 2-3 mm, fleshy; petals deep red to magenta, basally light red to yellow, 4.5-6 mm, thick and fleshy; anthers light red, becoming yellow at anthesis; stigma yellow. Seeds 1-5, black. 2 n =28. [P. Goldblatt 1976]
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 10.1 - 14.9
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.9
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a tropical plant. It is native to the West Indies and Florida. It grows in thickets on dry coastal limestone. It can tolerate drought and some salt. It grows in hardiness zones 9-12.
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Coastal thickets, hammocks, commonly found on limestone or calcareous soils at around sea level.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-11

Usage

The bark is used as a spice. It has the smell of cinnamon and cloves. It is also used to flavour liqueur. The leaves are also used as a spice. Caution: The bark is also used to procure abortions.
Uses environmental use food material medicinal spice wood
Edible barks leaves
Therapeutic use Emmenagogue (unspecified), Piscicide (unspecified), Sclerosis(Liver) (unspecified), Scurvy (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Digestive (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Headache (unspecified), Stomachic (unspecified), Fumitory (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Fruit

Canella winterana fruit picture by Roro Roro971 (cc-by-sa)
Canella winterana fruit picture by Frédéric Dupont (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Canella winterana world distribution map, present in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Montserrat, Martinique, Puerto Rico, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Conservation status

Canella winterana threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:146013-1
WFO ID wfo-0000583977
COL ID QLT5
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 629255
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Winterana obtusifolia Canella canella Canella laurifolia Canella obtusifolia Winterana canella Canella alba Canella winterana
WorldFloraDB 2024