Cinnamomum chekiangense Seeds | Zhejiang Cinnamon

Zhejiang Cinnamon (Cinnamomum chekiangense) with glossy aromatic leaves and dark bark — Zhejiang Cinnamon (*Cinnamomum chekiangense*): Lauraceae, a Chinese evergreen cinnamon with aromatic leaves and dark fruit.

LATIN NAME: Cinnamomum chekiangense

COMMON NAME: Zhejiang Cinnamon

Plant Profile

Zhejiang Cinnamon is an evergreen tree of the laurel family, ten to fifteen metres tall, with glossy, leathery, opposite leaves that release a sweet spicy scent when crushed. The bark is smooth and grey, the flowers are small and pale, and the fruit is a dark berry held in a cup-shaped receptacle.

It grows in the warm, humid hills of Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, in evergreen broadleaf forest on acid soil. It is one of a group of Chinese cinnamons valued for leaf oil rather than for the bark spice, and it is much less known outside the region than its economic value would suggest.

Science & Biotechnology

Cinnamomum is a large genus of some three hundred species, and its taxonomy rests on a difficult mix of leaf venation, fruit cup and bark anatomy. Cinnamomum chekiangense belongs with the Asian evergreen group, and it has been included in molecular studies of the genus’s Chinese radiation.

The leaf oil has been characterised in several surveys, and it is dominated by camphor, linalool and cineole in proportions that vary with season and population. That variability is one reason the species is of interest: it is a wild reservoir of aromatic chemistry that the spice trade has largely ignored. Its closest relatives in the Chinese flora include C. japonicum, and the two are separated by small differences in leaf shape and fruit size.

Uses & Benefits

In China the timber is used locally and the leaves are distilled for oil, while the bark has a minor place in regional medicine. It is not the source of commercial cinnamon, which comes from C. verum and the cassia group.

In the garden it is an evergreen specimen for a mild climate, with a neat crown, aromatic foliage and small dark fruit that birds take. It works as a screen or a background tree, and it can be clipped into a large hedge where space allows. The crushed leaves sweeten the air of a conservatory, and they keep their scent through winter.

Growing from Seed

Sow fresh seed, cleaned of its fleshy coat, into a mix of leaf mould, grit and compost, and keep it at twenty-two to twenty-six degrees in shade. Germination is three to six weeks, and the seed loses viability within a few months.

Seedlings need shade and humidity for their first year and are prone to leaf scorch in direct sun. Grow them in deep pots, pot on carefully, and plant out into rich, acid, well-drained soil in a sheltered position. Protect from frost for the first three winters. It also grows well in a large container for a few years, which suits a cool climate.

Our Take

An aromatic evergreen that gives scent, shade and fruit without the demands of the spice cinnamons. Fresh seed and a shady start are what it needs. It is a tree for a mild garden with acid soil.

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