| Camphora officinarum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| An ancient camphor tree (estimated to be over 1,000 years old) in Japan | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Camphora |
| Species: | C. officinarum |
| Binomial name | |
| Camphora officinarum | |
| Synonyms | |
Camphora officinarum is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. [1] [2]
Camphora officinarum is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern Japan, Korea, India, and Vietnam, and has been introduced to many other countries. [3] It grows up to 20–30 m (66–98 ft) tall. [3] In Japan, where the tree is called kusunoki, five camphor trees are known with a trunk circumference above 20 m (66 ft), with the largest individual, Kamō no Ōkusu (蒲生の大楠, "Great camphor of Kamō"), reaching 24.22 m. [4]
The leaves have a glossy, waxy appearance and smell of camphor when crushed. In spring, it produces bright green foliage with masses of small white flowers. It produces clusters of black, berry-like fruit around 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter. Its pale bark is very rough and fissured vertically.
Certain trees in Japan are considered sacred. An example of the importance of a sacred tree is the 700-year old camphor growing in the middle of Kayashima Station. Locals protested against moving the tree when the railway station had to be expanded, so the station was built around it. [5]
C. camphora is cultivated for camphor and timber production. The production and shipment of camphor, in a solid, waxy form, was a major industry in Taiwan prior to and during the Japanese colonial era (1895–1945). It was used medicinally and was also an important ingredient in the production of smokeless gunpowder and celluloid. Primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found. The wood was chipped; these chips were steamed in a retort, allowing the camphor to crystallize on the inside of a crystallization box after the vapour had passed through a cooling chamber. It was then scraped off and packed out to government-run factories for processing and sale. Camphor was one of the most lucrative of several important government monopolies under the Japanese.
The wood has an insect-repellent quality. [6]
Camphor is a white crystalline substance, obtained from the tree C. camphora. Camphor has been used for many centuries as a culinary spice, a component of incense, and as a medicine. It is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance.
The species contains volatile chemical compounds in all plant parts, and the wood and leaves are steam distilled for the essential oils. Camphor laurel has six different chemical variants called chemotypes, which are camphor, linalool, 1,8-cineole, nerolidol, safrole, and borneol. In China, field workers avoid mixing chemotypes when harvesting by their odour. [7] [8] The cineole fraction of camphor laurel is used in China to manufacture fake "eucalyptus oil". [9]
The chemical variants (or chemotypes) seem dependent upon the country of origin of the tree. e.g., C. camphora grown in Taiwan and Japan is normally very high in linalool, often between 80 and 85%. In India and Sri Lanka, the high camphor variety/chemotype remains dominant. C. camphora grown in Madagascar, though, is high in 1,8-cineole (averaging between 40 and 50%). The essential oil from the Madagascar trees is commercially known as ravintsara. [10]
Camphor laurel was introduced to Australia in 1822 as an ornamental tree for use in gardens and public parks. It has become a noxious weed throughout Queensland and central to northern New South Wales, where it is suited to the wet, subtropical climate. The camphor content of the leaf litter helps prevent other plants from germinating successfully, helping to ensure the camphor's success against any potentially competing vegetation,[ citation needed ] and the seeds are attractive to birds and pass intact through the digestive system, ensuring rapid distribution. Camphor laurel invades rainforests and pastures, and also competes against eucalyptus trees, certain species of which are the sole food source of koalas. In its favour, however, younger camphor laurel trees can quickly develop hollows, which can be utilised by wildlife, whereas natives can take hundreds of years to develop hollows. [11]
Introduced to the contiguous United States around 1875, C. camphora has become naturalized in portions of Alabama, California, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, and South Carolina. [12] It has been declared a category I invasive species in Florida. [13]
In Australia, the larval stages of two native butterflies, the purple brown-eye and common red-eye feed on camphor despite it being an introduced plant. [14]
The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as an herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavor that a bay leaf imparts to a dish has not been universally agreed upon, but most agree it is a subtle addition.
A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response to coppicing or other environmental stressors. However, lignotubers are specifically part of the normal course of development of the plants that possess them, and often develop early on in growth. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, as well as stores of starch that can support a period of growth in the absence of photosynthesis. The term "lignotuber" was coined in 1924 by Australian botanist Leslie R. Kerr.
Camphor is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel, a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapur tree, a tall timber tree from South East Asia. It also occurs in some other related trees in the laurel family, notably Ocotea usambarensis. Rosemary leaves contain 0.05 to 0.5% camphor, while camphorweed (Heterotheca) contains some 5%. A major source of camphor in Asia is camphor basil. Camphor can also be synthetically produced from oil of turpentine.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism.
Laurus nobilis is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. Its common names include bay tree, bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, Grecian laurel, or simply laurel. Laurus nobilis figures prominently in classical Greco-Roman culture.
Kamō was a town located in Aira District, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
Linalool refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Linalool has multiple commercial applications, the majority of which are based on its pleasant scent. A colorless oil, linalool is classified as an acyclic monoterpenoid. In plants, it is a metabolite, a volatile oil component, an antimicrobial agent, and an aroma compound. Linalool has uses in manufacturing of soaps, fragrances, food additives as flavors, household products, and insecticides. Esters of linalool are referred to as linalyl, e.g. linalyl pyrophosphate, an isomer of geranyl pyrophosphate.
Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania/Australasia. The genus includes a great number of economically important trees used to produce the spice of cinnamon.
Cinnamomum tamala, Indian bay leaf, also known as tejpat, tejapatta,Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. It can grow up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. Its leaves have a clove-like aroma with a hint of peppery taste; they are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum.
Eucalyptol is a monoterpenoid colorless liquid, and a bicyclic ether. It has a fresh camphor-like odor and a spicy, cooling taste. It is insoluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. Eucalyptol makes up about 70–90% of eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptol forms crystalline adducts with hydrohalic acids, o-cresol, resorcinol, and phosphoric acid. Formation of these adducts is useful for purification.
Graphium sarpedon, the common bluebottle or blue triangle in Australia, is a species of swallowtail butterfly that is found in South and Southeast Asia, as well as eastern Australia. There are approximately sixteen subspecies with differing geographical distributions.
Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaf of Eucalyptus, a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae native to Australia and cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, antiseptic, repellent, flavouring, fragrance and industrial uses. The leaves of selected Eucalyptus species are steam distilled to extract eucalyptus oil.
Eriocephalus africanus is a bushy shrublet indigenous to South Africa. It has a wide distribution in the Western and Eastern Cape, and in Namaqualand. The plant has several common names in various languages. It is known as the Kapokbossie or Wild Rosemary referring to its fancied resemblance to rosemary. The superficial resemblance is in the foliage, which, though softer and not glossy, grows in a habit similar to that of the common Mediterranean rosemary, although the two species are not related.
Cryptocarya agathophylla is a member of the laurel family, Lauraceae, and originates in Madagascar.
Camphora glandulifera, common name false camphor tree or Nepal camphor tree, is a tree in the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae.
Achillea santolina, a perennial herb, is commonly found in arid environments of Iraq and Jordan, but may colonize colder and more humid climates of the northern hemisphere, such as Europe and Asia. It is a traditional plant used as a herbal remedy in many parts of Iraq and Jordan and has been used as an insecticide and repellent.
Greek basil is a flowering herb and cultivar of basil.
Camphora is a genus of evergreen plants belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus contains approximately 20 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. This genus was previously considered a synonym of Cinnamomum.
Cinnamomum bodinieri is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae, native to southern China. A tree reaching 16 m (52 ft), it is typically found in situations with more light, such as alongside roads and streams or in open forests and thickets. Its essential oil is high in citral. It is used as a street tree in a number of southern Chinese cities.
