The three (rarely 2)sepals are thick, coriaceous, andimbricate.
Thepetals number (4-)5-12, in 1-2 (-4) unlikewhorls or spirally arranged, slender, imbricate inbud, usuallyfree (connate at the base inCanella and halfway to the apex inCinnamosma).
Thefruit is aberry with a persistentcalyx, with two or moreseeds.Cinnamosma macrocarpa, in theMadagascan genusCinnamosma, has the largest fruit in the family, sometimes reaching 6 cm (2.4 in) by 9 cm (3.5 in).
Seeds haveexotestae (the outer layer of the testa) only; thetegmen (the inner layer of the testa) is collapsed. The seed coat has oilyidioblasts; theendosperm is abundant and oily (ruminate inCinnamosma). Theembryo is small and straight to slightly curved, with twocotyledons.
Pollen occurs inmonads, and is delicate and monosulcate (usually with 10% of the grain trichotomosulcate); apertures are distal,exine, generally tectate, and granular, intectate, and reticulate inCinnamosma; grains are small and hardly ornamented inCinnamodendron andWarburgia, largest and most highly decorated inCanella andPleodendron. The pollen is generally similar to that of theMyristicaceae, which had at one time caused somesystematists to believe the two families were closely related.
Synapomorphies for Canellaceae include monadelphous stamens, parietal placentation, and campylotropous ovules.[8]
Other notabletraits include the conspicuous lenticels, the aromatic bark, the peppery taste of the leaves, the three (rarely two) fleshy sepals, and the berry with reniform seeds.[8]
Some sources indicateCinnamodendron has 20-40 stamens, contrary to the sources that are regarded here as reliable. The very large stamen numbers (20 to 40), are probably counts of thecae or microsporangia.
The saro, or green sandalwood, (also known locally asmandravasarotra),Cinnamosma fragrans, is native to Madagascar and is exported from there to India to be burned in ceremonies. It is not related to the truesandalwoods, which are in the familySantalaceae.[citation needed]
Commercial production of "white cinnamon" fromC. winterana has ceased,[11] but small-scale, local production continues. The Canellaceae have long had local use as aromatic plants and as herbal medicines.
In this article, the genusCapsicodendron is maintained insynonymy withCinnamodendron, although preliminary molecularphylogeneticstudies separateCapsicodendron fromCinnamodendron and placeCapsicodendron closer toCinnamosma andWarburgia than toCinnamodendron. This placement is not corroborated bymorphology. The currently recognized genera in Canellaeae can be distinguished as follows:[8]
In 1756,Patrick Browne applied thenameCanella to the species now known asCanella winterana.[17] He did not add aspecific epithet to create abinomial.[18] Thegeneric name isderived fromcanela, the Spanish word for cinnamon, but the Spanish word is derived from theLatincanna, meaning "a reed", or from the relatedGreekkanna, which refers to a piece of rolled bark.[19]
The genusCanella was not adopted by Linnaeus, whoresurrectedWinterania in the second edition ofSpecies Plantarum in 1762.[20] He assigned to Winterania a single species,Winterania canella, which was equivalent to the species he had previously calledLaurus winterana.
The family Canellaceae was established byCarl von Martius in 1832 and was defined as consisting of only the genusCanella.[24][25]Stephan Endlicher dividedCanella in 1840, creating the new genusCinnamodendron.Cinnamosma was erected in 1867,Warburgia in 1895, andPleodendron in 1899.Capsicodendron was erected in 1933. Some authors acceptCapsicodendron and assign to it two species,Capsicodendron pimenteira andCapsicodendron dinisii.[11] Other authors subsumeCapsicodendron intoCinnamodendron andC. pimenteira intoC. dinisii.[8]
One of these groups isrelated to theAfrican generaCinnamosma andWarburgia, and might beparaphyletic over them. It consists of eight species, one of which was named in 2005.[26] Two other species in this group have not been formally named and described in the scientific literature.[8] This group is restricted toSouth America. Since it includes thetype species,Cinnamodendron axillare, it will retain the nameCinnamodendron.
The other group ofCinnamodendron species ismost closely related toPleodendron and is restricted to theGreater Antilles. It consists of six species, two of which remain unnamed.[8] The nameAntillodendron has been proposed for this group, but this name is considered by some to beinvalid because it was not effectively published.[27]
^1813 illustration, Tab. 71 from Adolphus Ypey, Vervolg ob de Avbeeldingen der artseny-gewassen met derzelver Nederduitsche en Latynsche beschryvingen, Eersde Deel, 1813Canella winteriana (syn.C. alba), Canellaceae published by Kurt Stüber
^Walter S. Judd, Christopher S. Campbell, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Peter F. Stevens, and Michael J. Donoghue. 2008.Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach, Third Edition. Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA, USA.ISBN978-0-87893-407-2
^abVernon H. Heywood (with David J. Mabberley). 2007. "Canellaceae" page 84. In: Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham.Flowering Plant Families of the World. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007).ISBN978-1-55407-206-4.
^Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992).The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press, Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York.ISBN978-0-333-47494-5 (set).
^abcdefghijkJackeline Salazar and Kevin Nixon. 2008. "New Discoveries in the Canellaceae in the Antilles: How Phylogeny Can Support Taxonomy".Botanical Review74(1):103-111.doi:10.1007/s12229-008-9002-z
^Friedrich Ehrendorfer and Maria Lambrou. 2000. "Chromosomes ofTakhtajania, other Winteraceae, and Canellaceae: phylogenetic implications".Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden87(3):407-413.
^abThomas A. Zanoni. 2004. "Canellaceae". page 81. In: Nathan Smith, Scott A. Mori, Andrew Henderson, Dennis Wm. Stevenson, and Scott W. Heald (editors).Flowering Plants of the Neotropics. Princeton University Press and The New York Botanical Garden.ISBN978-0-691-11694-5.
^Andrew Dalby. 2001. "Christopher Columbus, Gonzalo Pizarro, and the Search for Cinnamon".Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture1(2):40-49. (Seeexternal links below).
^Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné). 1753.Species Plantarum, 1st edition, vol. 1, page 371. Holmiae: Impensis Laurentii Salvii (Lars Salvius). (A facsimile with an introduction by William T. Stearn was published by the Ray Society in 1957).
^Johan Andreas Murray. 1784. pages 443 and 507. In: Caroli a Linné eqvitis Systema vegetabilivm : secvndvm classes ordines genera species cvm characteribvs et differentiis, 14th edition. Johann Christian Dieterich: Gottingen, Germany.
^George Simonds Boulger. date?. "Samuel Dale", entry 385. In: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 13.
^Joseph Gaertner. 1788. pages 373 and 374. In: De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum. Sumtibus Auctoris, Typis Academiae Carolinae. Stuttgart, Germany. (A facsimile edition was published by Nabu Press in 2010.ISBN978-1-147-85791-7).
^James L. Reveal. 2008 onward.A checklist of suprageneric names for extant vascular plants. At: Home Page of James L. Reveal and C. Rose Broome. (SeeExternal links below).
