''Cinnamomum oliveri'' is a

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

tree growing at the eastern coastal parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It grows from the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

district (34° S) in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

at the northern tip of

. The southernmost limit of natural distribution is on the volcanic cliffs above the town of

Gerroa Gerroa is a coastal town in the Municipality of Kiama, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia 133 kilometres south of Sydney. It is considered to be the southernmost town in the Illawarra region. Nearby towns are Gerringon ...

and nearby on the sand in rainforest behind

Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales Seven Mile Beach is a long beach with strong historical reference just south of Gerringong in the Shoalhaven area of New South Wales, Australia. History In 1933 Seven Mile Beach was used by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith as the runway for the f ...

. Named after Daniel Oliver of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. ''Cinnamomum oliveri'', has several common names, such as the camphorwood, Oliver's sassafras, black sassafras and cinnamonwood. It is a medium to large tree to around 30 metres tall and 75 cm in diameter.

Habitat

Common in warm temperate rainforest areas on sedimentary soils in cool mountain situations. But also seen in subtropical rainforest.

Description

Trunk, bark and leaves

The trunk is cylindrical or occasionally flanged. Grey or brown bark with a corky layer. The trunk has vertical lines of corky pustules. Leaves are opposite, simple, entire wavy margins, smooth, lanceolate, pointed, gradually tapering to the base. 8 to 15 cm long, 2 to 4 cm broad. Shiny green above, bluish grey

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

below. Leaf stalk 6 to 12 mm long. Leaf venation is distinct on both surfaces. The midrib is raised on both surfaces.

Flowers, fruit and germination

Flowers appear from October to November. Cream, fragrant, in panicles at the ends of branchlets or in the forks of leaves near the ends of the branchlets. The fruit is a blue-black or black oval, shiny, aromatic

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

. Often with

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

s. About 12 mm long. Fruit ripe February to April. Fruiting occurs roughly every seven years, and is prolific. Fruit is eaten by rainforest birds including the

white-headed pigeon The white-headed pigeon (''Columba leucomela'') is a pigeon native to the east coast of Australia. Taxonomy and systematics The pigeon family is a group of stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a worldwide distribut ...

pied currawong The pied currawong (''Strepera graculina'') is a black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus ''Strepera'', it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of ...

and

green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

. Like most Australian

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

fruit, removal of the fleshy

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

is advised to assist seed germination. The seed has short longevity due to deterioration on drying.

Uses

The bark of ''Cinnamomum oliveri'' contains

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

, also an

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

, rich in

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

safrole Safrole is an organic compound with the formula CH2O2C6H3CH2CH=CH2. It is a colorless oily liquid, although impure samples can appear yellow. A member of the phenylpropanoid family of natural products, it is found in sassafras plants, among oth ...

and

methyleugenol Methyl eugenol (allylveratrol) is a natural chemical compound classified as a phenylpropene, a type of phenylpropanoid. It is the methyl ether of eugenol and is important to insect behavior and pollination. It is found in various essential oils. ...

cinnamic aldehyde Cinnamaldehyde is an organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), mill ...

and

eugenol Eugenol is an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, a member of the allylbenzene class of chemical compounds. It is a colorless to pale yellow, aromatic oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil ...

depending on the chemical variety of the species. The oil may be used for medicinal purposes. The fragrant timber is used for indoor work, lining and cabinet work. Weight 560 to 660 kilograms per cubic metre.

Gallery

Image:Cinnamomum oliveri - juvenile Foxground.JPG, ''Cinnamomum oliveri'' - juvenile, Foxground Image:Cinnamomum oliveri - bark Foxground.JPG, ''Cinnamomum oliveri'' - bark, Foxground Image:Cinnamomum oliveri - Seven Mile Beach.JPG, ''Cinnamomum oliveri'' at

Image:Black sassafras wood sample.jpg, Black sassafras wood sample at the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

, Sydney

References

External links

*
(other publication details, included in citation)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5121029 Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Laurales of Australia Plants described in 1892 Trees of Australia

oliveri Oliveri ( Sicilian: ''Oluveri'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,076 and an are ...