Cinnamon leaves yield an oil resembling oil of cloves, with which it is often mixed.
The ripe berries of the cinnamon tree yield a volatile oil, similar to oil of juniper, and from the root is obtained camphor.
Cassia oil is obtained from the leaves, buds, or bark. It is of a golden-yellow color, but turns brown with age. It is considered good for influenza.
Cassia buds resemble nails with heads of different size and shape, according to the period of growth when collected.
There is also a kind of wild cinnamon, or cassia, which grows in Cuba, but its taste resembles more that of cloves than of cinnamon.
CLOVES
Interesting History With Illustration Showing Flower, Bud and Fruit—Where Grown and Commercial Uses
Cloves are dried, unopened calyces or flower buds of the clove tree, Caryophyllus aromaticus, a kind of myrtle, a native of the Molucca islands. In commerce they are chiefly distinguished by their place of growth and rank in the following order: Penang, Bencoolen, Amboyna, and Zanzibar. In addition to these there enter into commerce as secondary products, clove stalks and mother cloves, or the dried ripened fruit. The bulk of these secondary products are shipped from Zanzibar.
The clove tree is an evergreen, 15 to 30 ft. high. It has a thin smooth bark and adheres closely to the wood, which is a gray color and of little use. The leaves are 3 to 5 in. long. The upper side and foot-stalk is red, shading to a dark color, while the under surface is green. The flowers grow in small bunches at the extremities of the boughs, very like the flower-buds of the lilac tree, and all are of a delicate purplish color. The calyx is long and forms the seed sack. As the blossoms fade the calyx changes color from yellow to red. If allowed to remain on the tree after this the calyx swells like that of the rose. In this state it loses its pungent properties and is called mother clove, and is practically of no value as a choice spice. The cultivated trees are kept pruned to about 8 or 10 ft. in height.
