Cinnamomum iners Reinw. ex Blume, Bijdr. (1826)
Latin for 'not active', i.e. without the characteristic smell of most species in the genus.
Cinnamomum aromaticum Zoll.
Cinnamomum curtisii Lukman.
Cinnamomum gracile Miq.
Cinnamomum griffithii Meisn.
Cinnamomum iners var. angustifolium Ridl.
Cinnamomum manillarum de Lukmanoff
Cinnamomum pseudosintok Miq.
Cinnamomum rauwolfii Blume
Cinnamomum reinwardtii Miq.
Laurus caryophyllata Reinw. ex Meisn.
Laurus iners Reinw. ex Nees
Laurus malabathrica Roxb.
Laurus malabathrum Wall.
Laurus malabatrum Lam.
Persea nitida Spreng.
Understorey tree up to 16 m tall and 39 cm dbh. Stipules absent. Leaves
alternate to opposite, simple, tripli-veined, glabrous, sometimes glabrous
below. Flowers ca. 4 mm diameter, white-yellow, placed in axillary panicles.
Fruits ca. 10 mm long, green, fleshy drupes placed on slightly swollen flower
base with persistent calyx lobes.
Tree or small tree, 4-16 m tall, c. 39 cm diameter. Bark smooth; inner bark yellowish. Twigs stout or
slender, terete, 2-3 mm diameter, apically terete to subangular, drying dark brown to black. Terminal
buds not perulate, conical, 2-4 mm long, densely covered with straight appressed hairs. Leaves opposite
to subopposite, drying pale green, trinerved, coriaceous, shiny and hairy above, hairy below, the hairs
sparsely distributed, minute, short (to c. 0.2 mm), appressed and straight; blade not bullate, without
domatia, ovate, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, 8-12 by 4-7 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex acute, tip
often gnawed; midrib smoothly raised on both sides, to 1 mm broad; lateral veins raised on both sides,
extending to the leaf tip; major intercostal veins raised, slender, subscalariform, 2-5 mm apart; minor
intercostal veins faint, reticulate; petiole stout, subterete, shallowly grooved above, glabrescent,
c. 0.5 cm long, 1-2 mm diameter. Inflorescences axillary or subterminal, slender, drying blackish,
paniculate-cymose with up to third order branching, up to 16 cm long; rachis angular, 1-2 mm broad,
densely to sparsely covered with short straight appressed hairs; bracts caducous. Flowers hairy, drying
silky and greyish; pedicels slender, 3-5 mm long; hypanthium 1-3 mm high; perianth lobes elliptic,
c. 1.5-2.5 mm long, appressed pilose on both side; fertile stamen 1.5-2.5 mm long, anthers oblong ovate
with truncate or obtuse tip; that of first and second whorl 4-locular, of third whorl 2- to 4-locular;
filament 2/3-3/4 the length of stamen; glands stalked on each side at the lower half of filaments;
staminodes 1-1.5 mm long, apex hastate; ovary subglobose, 1-1.5 mm long, stigma trilobed. Infructescences
8-12 cm long. Fruits ellipsoid or obovoid with pointed tip, c. 10 by 8 mm; cupule inconspicuous, very
shallow, 1 mm high, 2 mm diameter, appressed hairy; perianth lobes persistent, elliptic or ovate, 2 by
1-2 mm; pedicel slender, 3-4 mm long, c. 1 mm diameter, minute-appressed hairy. [from Wild Cinnamon of
In undisturbed to disturbed mixed dipterocarp and sub-montane forests or in open sites, up to 1800 m
altitude. Mostly on hillsides and along rivers. The waxy, rancid smell produced by the flowers attract
hoverflies, small beetles and other small insects, which are potential pollinators for the plant. Its
seeds are dispersed by birds, squirrels and bats. Its leaves are the common food source of caterpillars
of the Common Mime (Chilasa clytia clytia) and the Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpdedon
The timber is insect resistent and used for house building and cabinet work. The bark yields an
inferior grade of cinnamon but oil distilled from it and from the leaves can be used for flavouring
and for incense sticks. Medicinally various plant parts are used for child birth complications, fever,
rheumatic poultice, and to relieve flatuence, intestinal and urinary complications. Leaves are used for
preparing sweet drinking water in rural areas. Sometimes planted as an ornamental. In cases of poisoning
by the latex from Antiaris toxicaria (Poison Arrow Tree or Ipoh Tree), the leaves can also be used
to produce an antidote. A decoction of the boiled roots is also administered to women post-labour.
From India and Indochina into Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines.
Borneo: Keningau, Mandiapa, Medang.
English: Wild cinnamon.