Indian Cassia Lignea

Location in BHU campus : Planted in Botanical and Ayurvedic gardens .

Botanical name : Cinnamomum tamala Ness & Eberm.

Family : Lauraceae

Vernacular / local Name : Bengali-Tejpat; Gujarati-Tamalapatra; Hindi-Tejpat; Sanskrit-Tamalaka, tejpatra; Tamil-Talishappattiri; Telugu-Talisapatri.

English names : Indian Cassia Lignea

A tree up to 8 m high and 1.3 m girth. Leaves long, oblong, glabrous, generally opposite, younger leaves pink. Flowers ca 5 mm long, in panicles. Fruit a drupe, globose, black when ripe.

Flowering: February-May

Fruiting : June-October

• Sacred value

The flowers are offered to the Lord Samba on Shree Shanipradosha Vrata.

• Uses

Leaves are used as spice; they are carminative and are also used for curing stomach ailments. Bark is a common adulterant of true cinnamon. In Kashmir leaves are used in place of Betel leaves.