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Cinnamomum oliveri
Also called Oliver's Sassafras
Camphorwood is a large rainforest tree from eastern Australia, reaching about 30 m, grown mainly as a shade or specimen tree in warm climates. It needs a humid, sheltered site with reasonable moisture to thrive.
Cinnamomum oliveri is a rainforest tree growing in the eastern coastal region of Australia. It occurs from the Illawarra district (34° S) in northeastern New South Wales to Cape York Peninsula at the northern tip of Queensland. The southernmost limit of its natural distribution is on the volcanic cliffs above the town of Gerroa and nearby on sand in rainforest behind Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales. It is a medium to large tree reaching around 30 metres tall and 75 cm in diameter.
Cinnamomum oliveri has several common names, such as camphorwood, Oliver's sassafras, black sassafras and cinnamonwood. The specific epithet honours Daniel Oliver of Kew Gardens.
Common in warm temperate rainforest areas on sedimentary soils in cool mountain situations, and also found in subtropical rainforest.
The bark of Cinnamomum oliveri contains tannin, and also an essential oil, rich in camphor, safrole and methyleugenol or cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol, depending on the chemical variety of the species. The oil may be used for medicinal purposes. The fragrant timber is used for indoor lining and cabinet work. Its weight is 560 to 660 kilograms per cubic metre.
Camphora glandulifera · Selasian Wood · Cinnamon · Cinnamomum angustitepalum · Brown Bollywood · Camphora bodinieri · Padang cassia · Cinnamomum calciphilum · Cambodia cinnamom · Camphora officinarum · Cinnamomum capparu-coronde · Laurels
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cinnamomum oliveri by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
