Lindera neesiana Seeds | Lindera
LATIN NAME: Lindera neesiana
COMMON NAME: Lindera, Nees’ Spicebush
Plant Profile
Siltimur is a small Himalayan laurel whose dried fruits are used as a spice and whose seeds yield a hard, pale oil used for lamps and soap. It grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree of three to seven metres in the middle hills, from Nepal and Bhutan through northeast India to Yunnan and Sichuan, usually between 1,500 and 3,000 metres on damp, shaded slopes. The leaves are obovate, three-nerved and aromatic, and they turn a soft yellow before falling. In early spring, before the leaves open, the bare branches carry clusters of small yellow-green flowers, and on female plants these become round drupes that ripen from red to black in autumn. The whole plant smells of spice when bruised. In Nepal the unripe fruits are dried and sold as siltimur, a sour, peppery seasoning that predates the arrival of timur in most village kitchens.
Science & Biotechnology
Lindera neesiana belongs to the laurel family, and like most of its relatives it is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees, an arrangement that guarantees genetic mixing but means a lone tree sets no fruit. The flowers open before the leaves, an adaptation that lets wind and early insects find them against bare wood, and the fruit is eaten by birds, which carry the seed away and scarify it in the process. The aromatic compounds in the leaf and fruit are mainly terpenes and sesquiterpenes, and the seed kernel is unusual among temperate lauraceous plants in storing a large proportion of lauric and decanoic acid, which is why the oil sets hard at room temperature and why it was used for candles as well as soap. The species is one of the parents of the spice trade in the middle hills, but it has been far less studied than its Chinese relatives. Trees in the wild are often multi-stemmed, a response to cutting rather than a natural habit.
Uses & Benefits
Dried siltimur fruits are used in Nepal as a souring and peppery spice, dropped whole into pickles, potato dishes and dried meat, and chewed as a digestive after meals. The oil pressed from the seed is a hard fat used for lamps, soap and, in the past, for waterproofing cloth, and the pressed cake goes to livestock. The wood is soft and light and is used for turnery, tool handles and, more often, for firewood and charcoal, which is one reason old trees are scarce near villages. The bark and leaves appear in local medicine for skin complaints and stomach upsets. In a garden the tree is grown for its early yellow flowers, its scent and its yellow autumn colour, and it works as a tall understorey plant beneath larger trees. It is not a plant for a small bed, since it eventually makes a broad crown, and it needs a second tree for fruit.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed in autumn, having rubbed off the fleshy coat, and expect germination the following spring; dried seed germinates poorly and should be stratified for three months at four degrees before being moved to 18 degrees. Use a moisture-retentive mix with plenty of leafmould and keep the pots shaded, since the seedlings scorch in their first summer. They grow slowly and can be left in the same pot for two seasons before planting out. Choose a sheltered site with dappled shade and soil that does not dry out completely, and mulch with leafmould to keep the roots cool. Plant two or three to be sure of both sexes, and keep them until flowering, which takes five years or more from seed. Little pruning is needed beyond removing crossing branches in winter, and the tree coppices well if it is cut for wood.
Our Take
A quiet Himalayan spice tree: yellow flowers on bare wood, hard oil in the seed, and a sour tang for pickles. Needs a partner to fruit.
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