- Cinnadenia
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Cinnadenia Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Magnoliids Order: Laurales Family: Lauraceae Genus: Cinnadenia
Aubl.Species Several , see text
Cinnadenia is a flowering plant genus belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in South East Asia.
The genus was described by André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans, originally from Vietnam, and published as Adansonia: Reports Périodique d'observations botanique, ns 13: 223 in 1973. The type species is Cinnadenia paniculata. [1]
Contents
Description
They are trees up to 40 m high, mostly 30 m high, hermaphrodites. Some species are slow grow canopy trees. The leaves are alternate, entire, elliptical or narrowly elliptical. 10 to 25 cm longand 3-8 cm wide. Many species have a valuable timber, others have the wood and bark pleasantly scented to the related lauraceae genus Cinnamomum. The oils extracted are used as ingredients in the manufacture of perfumes.
Ecology
They Grow in evergreen tropical forest. Species in less humid environment are smaller or less robust, with less abundant and thinner foliage and have oleifera cells that give trees a more fragrant aroma. It is present in the Himalayas mountain cloud forest in Bhutan, Atxam, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They grow also in evergreen lowlands tropical laurel forests. They does not form large stands but rather small groups of trees with a density of up to one individual per five hectares.
The ecological requirements of the genus, are those of fog moisture precipitating almost continuously in a natural habitat cloud-covered for much of the year. These genus species are found in tropical forests, subtropical temperate evergreen, montane evergreen forests, which is a type of rainforest or Cloud Forest. An ecosystem of great exuberance characterized by high humidity, no seasonal changes and with a wide variety of botanical and zoological species but also highly fragile against external aggressions. The temperate evergreen and evergreen forests are typically multispecies with evergreen and hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen hardwood trees, harbouring a rich biota of understorey plants, invertebrates, birds and mammalians. It is present in tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, laurel forest, in the Weed-tree forests in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, Tsuga forests; 2,000–2,600 metres (6,600–8,500 ft) from norther Vietnam, to Himalayas.
In Himalayas and other mountain areas is present in cool temperate zones in montane tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, Cinnadenia require continuously moist soil, and do not tolerate drought. The laurel trees falls within the broad-leaved forests; mid-montane deciduous forests; and high-montane mixed stunted forests. Some species growing to high altitude forests at 1,500–3,300 metres (4,900–10,800 ft). The upper limit of forests ranges from 3,000–3,300 m (9,800–10,800 ft). Three taxa are commonly found at tree line: an evergreen, needle-leaved gymnosperm (Abies pindrow Spach.), an evergreen, broad-leaved sclerophyllous oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.), and a deciduous, broad-leaved birch (Betula utilis Don). Vernal flowering is common at this elevation in Central Himalaya. In general, in their elevational distribution and structural-functional attributes, these high altitude forests are similar to other forests of cool temperate zones in Himalaya.
The most knowed trees are used by the timber industry. The fruit, a berry, is an important food source for birds. In some species the seed dispersal is carried out by monkeys, chipmunks, or fishes.
Cinnadenia malayana is in the Red List of Threatened Species.
Selected species
- Cinnadenia malayana Kosterm.
- Cinnadenia paniculata Kosterm.
References
Categories:- Laurales stubs
- Cinnadenia
- Laurales genera
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