Cinnadenia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Magnoliids
Ordo: Laurales

Familia: Lauraceae
Tribus: Laureae
Genus: Cinnadenia
Species: C. malayana – C. paniculata
Name

Cinnadenia Kosterm. Adansonia, n.s. 13: 223. (1973)

Type species: Cinnadenia paniculata (Hook. f.) Kosterm. Adansonia, n.s. 13: 223. (1973)

References

KostermanS, A.J.G.H. 1973. Adansonia: recueil périodique d'observations botanique, n.s. 13: 223.
International Plant Names Index. 2016. Cinnadenia. Published online. Accessed: Sept. 16 2016.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2016. Cinnadenia in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2016 Sept. 16. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2016. Cinnadenia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 16 Sept. 2016.

Cinnadenia is a flowering plant genus belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Southeast Asia.

The genus was described originally from Vietnam by André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans, and published in 1973.[1] The type species is Cinnadenia paniculata.[2]
Description

They are trees up to 40 m high, mostly 30 m high, and are hermaphrodites. Some species are slow-growing canopy trees. The leaves are alternate, entire, and elliptical or narrowly elliptical; they are 10 to 25 cm long and 3–8 cm wide. Many species have valuable timber; others have the wood and bark pleasantly scented, like most of the genera of the Lauraceae, such as Cinnamomum. The oils extracted are used as ingredients in the manufacture of perfumes.
Ecology

They grow in evergreen tropical forests. 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, Assam, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They grow also in evergreen lowlands tropical laurel forests. They do 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 species are found in tropical forests, subtropical temperate evergreen, or montane evergreen forests, which are a type of rainforest or cloud forest. The ecosystem is characterized by high humidity, no seasonal changes, and 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 m in height. The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen hardwood trees, harbouring a rich biota of understorey plants, invertebrates, birds, and mammals. 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 northern Vietnam to the Himalayas.

Cinnadenia species 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). 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 known trees are used by the timber industry. Cinnadenia malayana is on the Red List of Threatened Species.
References

"Cinnadenia Kosterm. Genus Novum Lauracearum". Adansonia. New Series. 13: 223–227. 1973.
"Tropicos.org". Missouri Botanical Garden.