Litsea pungens seed

LATIN NAME: Litsea pungens

COMMON NAME: Pungent Litsea

The pungent litsea is a handsome, upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree of the warm hills, and its fine, oval or lance-shaped, aromatic leaves and its small, inconspicuous, yellowish flowers, followed by the small, round, black, aromatic fruits, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the region. It grows as an upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching up to eight metres or so, with the upright, branching stems bearing the alternate, oval or lance-shaped, pointed, aromatic leaves and, through the early spring, the small, inconspicuous, yellowish flowers in the small clusters, followed by the small, round, black, aromatic, single-seeded fruits. It is a species of the flowering plant in the laurel family, and it is native to the warm hills of the central and the southern China, while it is prized for its fine, aromatic fruits, and it is known as the pungent litsea.

In the laurel family it is the black-fruited, aromatic shrub of the warm hills, a plant that fills the air with the family scent when the leaves are crushed.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The pungent litsea holds a place in the natural-oil papers of the laurel family, where the small, round, black fruits are studied for their pungent, aromatic oil, and the flavour chemists of the region keep the species in their programmes. The botanists have mapped its place in the laurel family and the warm hills of the central and the southern China, and the traditional practice of the region keeps the plant in the old use. The growers of the aromatic shrubs keep it in their catalogues for the crushed-leaf scent and the black fruit crop.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm garden, the pungent litsea is the aromatic shrub of the sunny corner. Its small, yellowish flowers feed the insects, its black, aromatic fruits feed the birds, and the dense, leafy growth gives cover and shelter through the year. The pungent fruits have served the fine cooking and the flavouring of the region, and the shrub grows well in the warm, moist, well-drained ground. Aromatic, black-fruited and useful.

The seeds ripen inside the small, round, black fruits — clean them off and sow them as soon as they are ready, at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a sheltered, half-shaded spot and never let them dry out, and the first shoots will come up steadily.