Cinnamon Tree
Cinnamomum verum
Lauraceae family
The ‘true cinnamon’
The spice itself is the inner bark that is peeled from the branches but care needs to be taken not to ‘ring bark’ the tree, and should only be attempted when the tree is 1.5m or taller. Scrape the outer bark, peel the inner bark, leave for a week, so that it curls into cinnamon sticks.
An aromatic with a warm sweet flavour, used to flavour curries, drinks, bakery goods. Essential oils are used in food, liqueur, perfume and drugs. The flowers on this tree are not spectacular, but the new leaf growth is something to behold.
The leaves are used in tea, dried and used in savoury dishes, or the base chewed for a cinnamon flavour. Scrunch a leaf and smell it.
Native to Sri Lanka, the Malabar coast of Indian, and Myanmar. In Egypt it was sought for embalming and religious practices.
Tree maintenance
Cinnamomum verum
Lauraceae family
The ‘true cinnamon’
The spice itself is the inner bark that is peeled from the branches but care needs to be taken not to ‘ring bark’ the tree, and should only be attempted when the tree is 1.5m or taller. Scrape the outer bark, peel the inner bark, leave for a week, so that it curls into cinnamon sticks.
An aromatic with a warm sweet flavour, used to flavour curries, drinks, bakery goods. Essential oils are used in food, liqueur, perfume and drugs. The flowers on this tree are not spectacular, but the new leaf growth is something to behold.
The leaves are used in tea, dried and used in savoury dishes, or the base chewed for a cinnamon flavour. Scrunch a leaf and smell it.
Native to Sri Lanka, the Malabar coast of Indian, and Myanmar. In Egypt it was sought for embalming and religious practices.
Tree maintenance
- Do not prune until five years old (2027).
- Wait until the tree is at least 1.5m tall before attempting harvest.
- To harvest the cinnamon bark, cut back the central trunk to encourage multi-trunks and side branches - this technique causes it to grow like a bush, with new shoots emerging out of the sides by the following year (it’s these shoots that are used to make cinnamon).
- The tree likes the regular rainfall it receives in the tropics, so water whenever the top two inches of soil have dried out, and mulch to keep the roots cool and maintain soil moisture.
- Fertilise every spring with a balanced, slow-release organic fertiliser.
Cinnamon Tree at LCG January 2025 (photo credit: Jacqui Lachmann)
Cinnamon Tree at LCG August 2022 (photo credit: Graham Bond)
