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Canellaceae
The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropic and Neotropic ecozones. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red. The family is divided into five genera, but studies of DNA sequences have indicated one of these genera should be split.
Description
These trees, rarely shrubs, are evergreen and glabrous. The stems have nodes with three (rarely two) leaf gaps and three leaf traces. The xylem has narrow rays. The bark is aromatic, with prominent and unusual appearing lenticels. The stems have nodes with three (rarely two) leaf gaps and three leaf traces. The xylem has narrow rays. The bark is aromatic, with prominent and unusual appearing lenticels.
Uses
- The white cinnamon, Canella winterana, a native of Florida and the Antilles, is used as a condiment, with tonic properties.
- Commercial production of "white cinnamon" from C. winterana has ceased, but small-scale, local production continues. The Canellaceae have long had local use as aromatic plants and as herbal medicines.
- The bark of the red cinnamon or false Winter's bark, Cinnamodendron corticosum, is used as a substitute for Winter's bark in Chile and Argentina, where it is called canelo, a name that is also applied to cinnamon.
