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Cinnamomum tamala
Also called Indian Bay Leaves, Indian Cassia, Indian Bay Leaf
Cinnamomum tamala is a tree in the laurel family whose leaves are used as a spice, similar to bay leaf. It is a tropical tree grown mainly for its aromatic leaves and bark, not usually as a houseplant.
Cinnamomum tamala, Indian bay leaf, tejpat or tejapatta, Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is native to northern India (Assam and the Western Himalayas), Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and southwestern China. It can grow up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. Its leaves have a clove-like aroma with a hint of peppery taste; they are used for culinary purposes (extensively in the cuisines of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, particularly in the Mughlai cuisine of North India and Nepal and in tsheringma herbal tea in Bhutan) and medicinal purposes.
It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum (or malobathrum).
Selasian Wood · Cinnamon · Camphora bodinieri · Padang cassia · Camphora officinarum · Laurels · Wild Cinnamon · Saigon cinnamon · Cinnamomum malabatrum · Turougwi · Camphora septentrionalis · Cinnamomum tenuifolium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cinnamomum tamala 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.
