Cryptocarya densiflora

Cryptocarya densiflora, commonly known as cinnamon laurel or white laurel,^[2] is a tree in the laurel family and is native to north Queensland and parts of Indonesia. Its leaves are lance-shaped to elliptic, the flowers yellowish-green and brown, tube-shaped but not perfumed, and the fruit is a flattened spherical, reddish maroon drupe that turns black when ripe.

Cinnamon laurel, white laurel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Lauraceae
Genus:	Cryptocarya
Species:	C. densiflora
Binomial name
Cryptocarya densiflora Blume[1]

Description

Cryptocarya densiflora is a tree that typically grows to a height of 30 m (98 ft), its stems sometimes buttressed. Its leaves are lance-shaped to elliptic, 65–150 mm (2.6–5.9 in) long and 25–60 mm (0.98–2.36 in) wide on a petiole 7–16 mm (0.28–0.63 in) long. The flowers are yellowish-green and pale brown, arranged in panicles more or less longer than the leaves but not perfumed, the perianth tube 1.0–1.6 mm (0.039–0.063 in) long an 1.4–1.9 mm (0.055–0.075 in) wide and hairy inside. The outer tepals are 1.9–2.7 mm (0.075–0.106 in) long and 0.9–1.4 mm (0.035–0.055 in) wide, the outer anthers 0.6–0.9 mm (0.024–0.035 in) long and about 0.6 mm (0.024 in) wide, the inner anthers 0.7–1.0 mm (0.028–0.039 in) long and about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide. Flowering occurs from October to January, and the fruit is a flattened, reddish-maroon drupe 11–14 mm (0.43–0.55 in) long and 13–19.5 mm (0.51–0.77 in) wide, turning black when ripe.^[2][3]

Taxonomy

Cryptocarya densiflora was first formally described in 1826 by Carl Ludwig Blume in Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie from specimens collected on Mount Salak in Indonesia.^[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

Cinnamon laurel grows as an understorey tree in mountain rainforest at altitudes of 450–1,200 m (1,480–3,940 ft). It is found from the McIlwraith Range on Cape York Peninsula to Eungella in far north Queensland, throughout Malesia and west to Java.^[2][3]