狭叶桂 xia ye gui

Cinnamomum burmannii (Nees & T. Nees) Blume var. angustifolium (Hemsley) C. K. Allen; C. burmannii f. heyneanum (Nees) H. W. Li; C. linearifolium Lecomte; C. pedunculatum Nees var. angustifolium Hemsley.

Small trees. Branchlets slender, glabrous. Leaves alternate or subopposite; petiole terete, ca. 1 cm, glabrous; leaf blade glaucous green and opaque abaxially, green and shiny adaxially, linear to linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, (3.8-)4.5-12(-15) × (0.7-)1-2(-4), papery, appressed sericeous-pubescent initially soon glabrate abaxially, glabrous adaxially, triplinerved, midrib extending to leaf apex, with additional veins on upper part, midrib and basal lateral veins very elevated abaxially, conspicuous adaxially, basal lateral veins arising 3-8 mm above leaf base, evanescent toward leaf apex, transverse veins and veinlets slightly elevated on both surfaces, base attenuate, apex acuminate. Panicle axillary, few flowered, shorter than leaf, densely gray pubescent, branched, apex of branch bearing a 3-flowered cyme; peduncle slender, 5-9 cm. Pedicels slender, up to 10(-12) mm. Flowers green-white, ca. 5 mm. Perianth lobes 6, oblong, ca. 3 mm, sparsely villous outside. Fertile stamens 9, ca. 3.5 mm; filaments villous at base, those of 1st and 2nd whorls glandless, those of 3rd whorl each with 2 shortly stalked glands; anthers oblong, all 4-celled; cells introrse (of 1st and 2nd whorls) or extrorse (of 3rd whorl). Staminodes 3, triangular, stalked. Ovary ovoid; style almost as long as ovary; stigma peltate. Fruit unknown. Fl. Apr(-May).

Thickets on mountain slopes along rivers; 100-500 m. Guangxi, SW Guizhou, W Hubei, E Sichuan, SE Yunnan [India].

The leafy branchlets contain volatile oil. Three types of the oil are found in Yunnan: safrole type (safrole 97%-99%), camphor-safrole type (camphor ca. 49%, safrole ca. 21%), and camphor-cineole type (camphor ca. 35%, cineole ca. 34%).