This is another large family that includes pleasant smelling and pleasant tasting plants. The stars of its portfolio are avocados, Persea americana, and cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum. Avocados! Cinnamon! Who can argue with that? I can't.
Cinnamomum verum translates as "true cinnamon", since the bark of the tree is the traditional source of the spice in its native Sri Lanka. Other members of this genus, however, are also used to produce cinnamon.
Two slightly less famous species that have crossed my path over the years are the camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora, and sassafras. The first is a Chinese relative of cinnamon that is both the primary source of the substance camphor as well as a common landscaping tree in California. It was explained to me that if you crush the leaves of a camphor tree with your fingers, you get a whiff of its strong, minty aroma. Sassafras albidum is native to the eastern U.S. and was pointed out to me once by my mother. Parts of this tree were used in the original production of root beer and are the source of its distinctive flavor. Unfortunately the FDA discovered that this same substance that provided the flavor -- safrole -- is a potential carcinogen, and so was banned in 1960. Fortunately the flavor is easily enough reproduced using either other plant-based or artificial ingredients.
Two slightly less famous species that have crossed my path over the years are the camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora, and sassafras. The first is a Chinese relative of cinnamon that is both the primary source of the substance camphor as well as a common landscaping tree in California. It was explained to me that if you crush the leaves of a camphor tree with your fingers, you get a whiff of its strong, minty aroma. Sassafras albidum is native to the eastern U.S. and was pointed out to me once by my mother. Parts of this tree were used in the original production of root beer and are the source of its distinctive flavor. Unfortunately the FDA discovered that this same substance that provided the flavor -- safrole -- is a potential carcinogen, and so was banned in 1960. Fortunately the flavor is easily enough reproduced using either other plant-based or artificial ingredients.
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