Hardy camphor tree
Cinnamomum chekiangense · Lauraceae · 생달나무
Look
- Leaves
- Long elliptic, 6 to 15 cm long and 2 to 5 cm wide, with a pointed tip that ends roundly and a smooth margin. Glossy above and powdery white beneath, with the vein splitting into three 3 to 15 mm above the base.
- Flowers
- Pale yellow flowers bloom in June in umbel-like cymes; the perianth lobes are in two rows of three, and the stamens are in four rows of three.
- Fruit
- A drupe, elliptic and 1.2 cm across, maturing blackish-purple from late September to early November.
- Bark
- Black; the one-year-old twigs are green.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native (Korean Peninsula)
- Native to
- Found in China, Taiwan and Japan; in Korea it grows in Jeollanam-do and Jeju.
- Ecology
- Grows up to 900 m elevation on the southern slope of Jeju (400 m on the northern slope). Shade-tolerant when young, mature trees tolerate strong light; it grows well in moist, fertile soil. Cold and drought tolerance is weak, but salt and pollution tolerance is fairly strong.