Cinnamomum verum J.Presl, Lauraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Cinnamomum zeylanicum Bl.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: xi lan rou gui

English: cinnamon, cinnamon tree

Fijian: kaloni

French: cannelier de Ceylan

Palauan: o‘oth, ochod ra ngebard

Samoan: tigāmoni, tināmoni

Spanish: canela, canelero de Ceilán

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Evergreen small trees, up to 10 m tall. Bark black-brown, inner bark with cinnamic aldehyde flavor. Young branchlets gray, somewhat tetragonous, white-maculate. Buds sericeous-puberulent. Leaves usually opposite; petiole ca. 2 cm, glabrous; leaf blade greenish white abaxially, green and shiny adaxially, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 11-16 x  4.5-5.5 cm, leathery or subleathery, glabrous on both surfaces, triplinerved, midrib and lateral veins elevated on both surfaces, transverse veins and veinlets reticulate, conspicuously foveolate abaxially, base acute, margin entire, apex acuminate. Panicle axillary or terminal, 10-12 cm; peduncle and rachis sericeous-puberulent. Flowers yellow, ca. 6 mm. Perianth tube obconical; perianth lobes 6, oblong, subequal, gray puberulent outside. Fertile stamens 9; filaments hairy near base, those of 3rd whorl each with 2 glands, others glandless; anthers 4-celled; cells of 1st and 2nd whorls introrse but those of 3rd whorl extrorse. Ovary ovoid, 10-15 mm, glabrous; style short; stigma discoid. Fruit ovoid, 10-15 mm, black when mature; perianth cup in fruit cupuliform, dilated, dentate, teeth truncate or acute at apex"  (Flora of China online).

"Trees; young branches dark brown, terete, glabrous.  Leaves opposite or subopposite, coriaceous, ovate to broadly ovate, 10-15 cm long, 4-8 cm wide, tripliveined, glabrous, apex blunt or slightly acute, petioles stout, ca. 1 cm long.  Flowers gray pubescent, in axillary, sparsely strigose inflorescences as long as or longer than leaves; tepals 6, equal, erect; fertile stamens 9.  Fruit an ellipsoid berry, ca. 1 cm long, subtended by a cupule with persistent tepals attached to the rim"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 846).

Habitat/ecology:  "Rock outcrops, forests and forest gaps.  The dense canopy shades out all other plants, creating species poor stands that may cover large areas.  Once established, it becomes the dominant tree and eliminates the native forest"  (Weber, 2003; p. 108).

Invading moist secondary forest on Tutuila, American Samoa.  In Fiji, "native, cultivated or perhaps infrequently naturalizing near sea level or river level"  (Smith, 1981; p. 123).  In Hawai‘i, "cultivated and naturalized" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 846).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Sri Lanka; cultivated and naturalized (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2000) (pp. 4, 11) Voucher: Flynn 6546 (PTBG)
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1976) (voucher ID: BISH 430423) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1999) (voucher ID: PTBG 294) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Miti‘aro Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 10) Voucher: Flynn 7053 (PTBG)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Miti‘aro Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2002) (voucher ID: PTBG 375) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced invasive	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 89)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2013)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 10)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 151354) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 151355) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Weno (Moen) Island		Wagner, W. L./ Herbst, D. R./Weitzman, A./Lorence, D.H. (2013)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 80)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 90) "Potential invader"
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 103) Vouchers cited: T.W. Flynn 6106 (MO, PTBG), F.R. Fosberg 60444 (BISH), D.H. Lorence 7918 (PTBG, US)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1996) (voucher ID: PTBG 21144) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J. Presl
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1980) (voucher ID: PTBG 22131) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1997) (voucher ID: PTBG 24545) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum L.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 123) Vouchers cited: DA 13494, DA 13580, DA 16966 Perhaps infrequently naturalizing.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1963) (voucher ID: BISH 32743) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1963) (voucher ID: BISH 32746) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1969) (voucher ID: BISH 32747) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1947) (voucher ID: BISH 151341) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 123) Vouchers cited: Vetawa 31, DA 7016, DA 7178, DA 12259, DA 16095 Perhaps infrequently naturalizing.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1950) (voucher ID: BISH 14349) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1952) (voucher ID: BISH 14350) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1960) (voucher ID: BISH 14351) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1969) (voucher ID: BISH 32744) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1963) (voucher ID: BISH 32745) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (p. 146)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Voucher cited: J. Florence 10645 (PAP) Naturalisée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 643072) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 132) Voucher cited: Florence 9268
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (p. 146)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Vouchers cited: J. Florence 2580 (PAP), J. Florence 4011 (PAP), J. Florence 9268 (PAP) Naturalisée. Rare à Tahiti.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1982) (voucher ID: BISH 493057) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2000) (p. 12) Voucher cited: C. Imada & A. Allison 99-47 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 846)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 846) Voucher cited: Zschokke s. n. (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 846)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 71) Vouchers cited: Vieillard s.n., Létocart in MacKee 39603, MacKee 45673
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1950) (voucher ID: BISH 151366) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Koror (Oreor) Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1950) (voucher ID: BISH 151363) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 80)
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1933) (voucher ID: BISH 151365) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Palau Rock Islands (Chelbacheb)	Chelbacheb Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 611175) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Palau Rock Islands (Chelbacheb)	Urukthapel (Ngeruktabel) Island		Wagner, W. L./ Herbst, D. R./Weitzman, A./Lorence, D.H. (2013)
Palau Rock Islands (Chelbacheb)	Urukthapel (Ngeruktabel) Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1950) (voucher ID: BISH 151364) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum J.Presl
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced cultivated	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 188) Occasionally cultivated in gardens.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6) Voucher: Flynn 6953 (PTBG, US, SAMOA)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 151349) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1931) (voucher ID: BISH 151350) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2002) (voucher ID: PTBG 268) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1968) (voucher ID: BISH 28532) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1968) (voucher ID: BISH 28612) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1973) (voucher ID: BISH 417724) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1974) (voucher ID: BISH 417843) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1978) (voucher ID: BISH 439244) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2001) (voucher ID: PTBG 43069) Taxon name on voucher: Cinnamomum verum

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	introduced cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 26) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	introduced cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Comoros Comoro Islands	Mohéli (Mwali) Island	introduced invasive	Vos, P. (2004) (p. 6)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (pp. 7, 8)
French Territory of Mayotte Mayotte Islands	Mayotte Island	introduced invasive	Vos, P. (2004) (p. 6)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 53) Voucher cited: Robertson 2667
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced invasive	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 108)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Actively invading secondary forest in Samoa (Space & Flynn, 2002) and on Tutuila, American Samoa (Space & Flynn, 2000).

Locally naturalized on Rarotonga and Miti‘aro, Cook Islands (Space & Flynn, 2002).

Control:  See control methods for Cinnamomum camphora.