''Neolitsea cassia'' is a species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the family

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is known as "dawulu kurundu - දවුල් කුරුදු" or "kudu dawula - කුඩු දවුල" in Sinhala.

Trunk

Bark - thick, smooth, gray; W- light, hard, pale orange.

Ecology

Montane and rain forest understory.

Uses

Wood - panelling; leaves- mucilaginous extract used in preparation of local sweet called

aasmi Aasmi ( si, ආස්මී) is a traditional Sri Lankan deep-fried sweet snack, which is served on Aluth Avurudda/Puthandu (the Sinhalese/Tamil New Years), weddings and birthdays. It is made with a combination rice flour and coconut milk, whic ...

; bark, leaves - medicinal.

Identification

Straight stem with greyish bark and short, slender branches. The leaf flush is smooth, silvery copper, drooping, crowded at the ends of branchlets, and turn bright green when mature. Leaves are lanceolate in shape with a slightly pointed base and a tapering pointed apex, about 6–18 cm long and 1.5–4 cm broad. The three veins beginning from the base are prominent, but the lateral veins are faint on the upper surface. The petiole appears as channeled above. Pale yellow flowers are seen in small clusters borne on short branchlets on the internodes. Male and female flowers are distinguishable. The fruit is dark purple, ovoid in shape, about 1.0 cm in size with a ring-like cap at the base.

References

* http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/263496 * * http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-50148283 cassia Endemic flora of Sri Lanka {{Laurales-stub