Spec. Plant. Willd. ii. 857.

Cl. 11. Ord. 1. Dodecandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Meliaceae. G. 942. Cal. Three-lobed. Pet. five. Anthers, 16, adhering to a pitcher-shaped nectary. Perry one-celled, with two or four seeds. Species 1. C. alba.1 White or Laurel-leaved Canella. Med. Pot.

3d edit. 694. t. 237. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. i. 96. t. 8. Officinal. Canellae Cortex, Lond. Canella albae, Cortex,

Edin. Canella alba, Cortex, Dub. Canella Bark.

Syn. Cannelle blanche (F.), Weisser Zimmet (G.), Hwit Kanel (Swed.), Cannella bianca (I.), Canella blanca (S.)

1 This plant has been often confounded with the Wintera aromatica, an error authorized in some degree by Linnaeus, who combined the two genera of Winterana and Canella under the name of Laurus Winterana; but afterwards made this a distinct genus under the title Winterana, a name by which it was known till Professor Murray corrected the error, and made a distinct genus of Canella. Vide Syst. Veg. 14th edit. 443. Sir Hans Sloane stated the error of confounding this bark with the Cortex Winteranus, in his description of the tree in the Phil. Trans, xvii. 465.

This tree is a native of the West India islands, growing in the inland woods. It rises very straight, from ten to fifty feet in height. The branches are erect, not spreading, and only at the top of the tree; furnished with spatulate leaves, irregularly alternate, oblong, obtuse, entire, nerveless, of a dark green colour, thick and shining like those of the laurel, and emitting a similar odour. The flowers, which exhale a powerful aromatic perfume, are small and of a scarlet colour, seldom opening, and grow in clusters upon divided foot-stalks at the summits of the branches. The calyx is of one piece, small, persistent, and deeply tripartite; the petals are five times as long as the calyx, oblong, sessile, concave, erect, two a little narrower than the others: the nectary is pitcher-shaped, anthcriferous, and deciduous. The anthers are twenty-one in number, distinct, fixed longitudinally to the outside of the nectary, and discharge a yellow pollen. The germen is superior, ovate; the style cylindrical, with two rough, convex, blunt stigmas.

The fruit is an oblong, one-celled, glossy, blackberry.

The inner bark of the branches is freed from the cuticle, and dried in the shade. It is brought to this country packed in casks and cases, in long pieces, some rolled in quills, and others flat: the quilled sort is considerably thicker than cinnamon, and the flat nearly one fourth of an inch an thickness.

Qualities. - The quilled pieces of Canella are of a whitish-yellow colour on both sides, and break with a starchy fracture; the flat pieces, which appear to be the bark of the largest branches or of the stem, are yellow on the outside, and pale brown within. The odour of both kinds, when fresh broken, is aromatic, something like a mixture of cloves and cinnamon; and the taste slightly bitter, extremely warm and pungent. Although boiling water takes up nearly one fourth of the weight of the bark, yet the infusion possesses but little of its warmth and pungency; the bitter chiefly predominating. Alcohol extracts all its qualities in perfection: the tincture is bright yellow, and becomes milky on the addition of water. The infusion is not altered by infusion of galls; sulphate of iron, zinc, bichloride of mercury, nor tartarized antimony; but nitrate of silver and acetate of lead render it milky, and throw down precipitates. By distillation with water, Canella alba affords a thick, heavy, yellow, very pungent, gratefully odorous volatile oil; on which, and a little bitter resinous matter its virtues seem to depend.

It contains also starch, albumen, some acetate, muriate, and oxalate of lime.

Medical properties and uses. - This bark is stimulant, and slightly tonic. It is a useful adjunct to bitters in some cases of dyspepsia and atonic gout; but it is employed chiefly on account of its flavour, and to correct the griping quality of the resinous cathartics. It is said to prove useful in scurvy.l The dose of the powdered bark is from grs. x. to 3 ss.

Officinal preparations. - Tinctura Gentianm composita, E. D. Vinum Aloes, L. E. D. Pulvis Aloes cum canella, D.