Identification: Tag said Canela

Yet there's less than nothing on the internet about it, except that it may be the Spanish word for cinnamon. Is this tree called Canela, and where can I find cultural instructions? or a pic of it in its native environ. Google search gave me a Dating Service (which was tempting...), but I'd rather find out about my tree!

 

The ones I've seen with a label were indicated as Canella winterana, Wild Cinnamon.

 

Thanks for that kwik reply!

 

Spellcheck: Canella winteriana

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAWI

 

I noticed the discrepancy as well; the RHS database has it under winterana. Google results seem to suggest winteriana is a synonym though there were cases of the opposite as well. (I gave greater weighting to the taxonomic related search results.)

Daniel, any help from the UBCBG on this one?

 

Index Kewensis lists it as being originally published as Canella winterana, though that's not necessarily the final word. Will need to do more sleuthing.

 

Appears as Endangered in Florida (presume encroachment from housing, as no diseases are listed).
It's strange that all search engine references are to synonyms and dictionaries...I still haven't seen a pic of Canella in its native habitat.
Thanks for digging into this puzzle.

 

It's a matter of Latin grammar - plants named after a person with a name ending -er take the ending -eriana. There was some confusion over this in the past, with the ending -erana having at one time been the advised spelling, but this was corrected in the ICBN in (if I remember rightly) the 1994 Tokyo code.

For similar example, Picea breweriana was formerly often cited as Picea brewerana.

 

So Canela winteriana is so named after the person named Winter who discovered and/or commercialized it? Despite all the help here, I still can't find a photo of it in its native habitat (so I can figure out cultural procedures).

 

Yep; Captain John Winter, one of the ship's commanders in Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world in 1577-1580. Same person that the family Winteraceae (including Winter's Bark Drimys winteri) is named after.

 

This page has a pic from (presumably) its native habitat
http://bio.fiu.edu/trees/sp_pages/Canella_winteriana.html

Also some info here:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500310

 

Michael is right about the name and interesting stuff about its origin. But . . .

It's NOT Canella. That has leaves with simple pinnate venation. Kia's plant has the 3-veined leaf characteristic of many Cinnamomum species. It may well be the true cinnamon, C. verum.

Canela is the Spanish name for cinnamon, according to this very useful website:
http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Cinnamomum.html

 

Michael, you're better than Google!
Perhaps I couldn't find it because tag spelling Canela should've been Canella. Thank you for that link.
It's stated to be Common in Miami, yet on the Endangered List...go figure.
The flowers and fruit are beautiful.

 

Tony, that link MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE is very interesting. Thanks.
C. verum photo nowhere to be found! (aaargh!) I'd like to compare it with Michael's great pic link.

(Tongue-in-cheek): While Canella (Cinnamon) may be Common in its tropical distribution, the lack of decent search results with photos makes it Endangered.

 

http://images.google.com/images?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Cinnamomum verum&sa=N&tab=wi

 

Wow, Daniel, thank you.
Eight pages of search PICS!!!!
I'm off to compare leaves.

 

Many good photos from Daniel's link to C. verum. On looking more closely, though, there are quite obvious variations--leaf colour notwithstanding--among the leaves pictured. In two instances, the veins resemble my (pic) leaf. In the majority of photos, it's way off. One more closely resembles a Ficus benjamina!

Could be that I have a Canella kia (*grin*)
thanks, everyone.

 

You'll always get a proportion of misidentified pictures with a Google image search. Also, their search mechanism often does not associate the thumbnail with its correct caption.

I believe some of the substitute (for true cinnamon) Cinnamomum spp. such as C. cassia have very similar leaves and they can be difficult to tell apart.

Kia, is it possible you are still confusing the spellings of Canela (Spanish common name for cinnamon) and Canella (botanical name)?

 

The Cinnamomum verum images look a lot like your plant. Note that the Google search page brings up photos associated to the text entered, they are not always photos of the text entered.

Considering the plant in question a good ID test might be to scratch and sniff the bark.

 

Apart from learning about my plant, I've learned about search engines too, and with the nursery tag misspelling (Canela) versus the correct Canella, I've taken up a lot of your time.
The bark smells nothing like cinnamon, even near the older base. Tree is likely too young. Its aroma might be enhanced once bark is dried in processing, vis a vis "the curl". I'll fondly recall these discussions as I try to keep it flourishing. Thanks all.

 

Home Depot had a couple of these trees today. The large, hand-sized tag with growing instructions on the back indicated Canela from Costa Farms. This may be the same company. Try contacting them; they may be able to give us a definitive answer.

 

I tossed my tag as it had very little info. Will contact them, thanks.

 

According to Costa Farms, their product labelled as 'Canela' is Cinnamomum kotoense. The trees that are available locally appear to all originate from this company.

 

That's what I was going to say! (Ü)

It seems to me that most of these 'Canela' (Canela being a 'common' name, in this case) that have become widely available at the 'box stores' are Cinnamomum kotoense, (as junglekeeper stated above).

I have a young one (presumably a cutting from a larger tree) and found some information using that name.

I've read that they need both abundant heat and light, though it's been very difficult to find information on the watering needs.

My understanding is that it is, indeed, the bark that is 'aromatic' in this species.......the 'inner' bark of mature trees....so I doubt you'd find aroma in either the leaves or the bark of a young tree.

 

From the grower,

I would interpret that as 'drought tolerant'. C. camphora is apparently susceptible to root rot; this suggests C. kotoense would benefit from a well-drained medium as well.