cinnamon seeds

I have a cinnamon tree (true cinnamon) that is over 7 feet tall and is blooming now for the first time. I am considering harvesting the seeds when they are ripe but can't find much about how to know when they are ripe and if that is a difficult process. Anyway, I also wanted to harvest a lower limb and try to scrape and cure a few rolls of cinnamon. They say all of the cinnamon we buy here in the US is false cinnamon (cassia species) so I am dying to try the real thing. Let me know if you have any advice. Here is a picture I took today. The red leaves are the new growth and are very attractive. I live in SW Florida in Charlotte county which is really a zone 9b.

Those leaves are beautiful. I don't know anything about harvesting the seeds.

I'm interested in how you fare.

katiebear

Aloha Bananaman, what fun to peel your own cinnamon ! Do let us know how you get on, and how it tastes ! Sorry, I don't know a thing about the seeds either..
Jen

Edited to add - all I could find out was the seed capsule is small, and brown when ripe. It contains 1 brown oval seed. I bet Carol knows...or Shari....

This message was edited Apr 19, 2008 4:48 PM

Cinnamon? I thought the spice is the bark! ???

I, too, shall be watching with great interest. Where did you get the tree?

Christi

I think the cinnamon curls that you put in hot chocolate is the bark carefully peeled off. Bananaman is asking about when the seeds are ready for picking and (I guess) how to grow them.
Bet that cinnamon is going to be delicious!
Jenny

Oh, dear, yes, the bark. I grouch about folks not reading posts carefully enough, and here I am guilty! Ak!

Cinnamon prices in the stores here vary tremendously. Some is amazingly costly, and in other stores you can buy a several ounce bundle of bark for a dollar.

Does the tree need much water? Does it tolerate a dry season?

Great tree bananaman!
Hope you get lots of seeds and are successful at peeling off some bark. Enjoy your cinnamon tea!

Hi Bananaman! I sure wish I could answer your questions, but unfortunately no. Carol has a cinnamon tree, if I remember correctly, so hopefully she will see this and have more info for you. Hang in there, we may be slow, but we mean well.

Yokwe,
Shari

I'm watching in anticipation too....the new leaves look so colorful. Please post pictures of how you harvest the bark to make into the cinnamon curls i'd love to see it done. I've been contemplating purchasing one of the trees from Top Tropicals.....you may just push me over the limit yet....how quickly it grows and if yours is in the ground or a pot....I'd probably have to keep mine in a pot, that's why I ask.

Sorry I can't help with your seed question either, I hope someone comes along to answer it for you.
Samantha

Edited because I saw your other post on where you purchased it and how old the tree was.

This message was edited Apr 23, 2008 3:47 PM

YUP...i have a cinnamon tree...but bought it from Plant It Hawaii - a big nursery here. I bet you could write them (google) and get the information...Will look up in my Tropical Fruit Tree book and see if they have any information...

I have tried to harves the bark but...man...I am doing something wrong because it doesn't work!!!

Carol

Howdy Carol! How ya feelin? Still got a housefull of company? I'm glad my memory wasn't wrong...I remember being floored by the cinnamon and allspice. Actually, by just about everything! Sensory overload!

Well there are now enough people interested in this project, that I think whether it be by google or the nursery or whatever, the info simply must be passed on. Enquiring minds want to know! Ha Ha. If anyone finds a useful link, or just some helpful info, please post it here.

Thanks!
Shari

Gotcha!

Feeling oK...actually looking forward to getting this $#@%!! back fixed so i can live a normal life...as if anything in life is 'normal'...? Company is gone... (sigh...).

I may (spelled maybe) have found something that kills a HORRIBLE weed here...called Pilea. It is VERY invasive and the only thing the 'big boys' have found to kill it also kllls lots of other plants. I may have stumbled upon a cheap and easy one...Clorox!!! Will post it IF it does work and if the seeds don't sprout back. Maybe I could rebottle it, give it a sexy name and make a lot of money????? NOT>

Hello Banaman. When you say cassia species, you are referring to Cinnamomum cassia (as opposed to Cassia spp. which my tired brain first thought of.) You are referring to Cinnamomum zeylanicum, and you have wonderful new growth. You should keep us posted on what happens with your plant. Having flowers and the right germinator can be two different phenomenon. However, according to DG plantfiles this should propagate from seed. I am strongly interested in trading should viable seeds develop.

Fauna4flora, I would be happy to trade if I am able to get seeds. I have not seen them developing yet, but maybe just not visible. Anyway, I do have plans to grow some to take into people I work with at various schools. Last year, I grew passion flower vine, Panama Red variety, and took in about 20 plants to work, and the year before that it was key limes. It has become a Christmas tradition and one that does not cost me much more than planning and time and a little in soil/water costs. Anyway, it makes me feel better about spreading plants and helping the world....sort of like Johnny Appleseed.

For Louc, I should have replied earlier, I got the tree from a nursery in North Fort Myers called Echo. Check out their website at echoweb.org. I don't think they ship, but they have an edible plant nursery that is one of a kind and associated with their Christian outreach to people in many poor countries to help supply them with plants and information so they can learn to sustain themselves. They list all of the plants they have with information about them. The prices are cheap, but a lot of people don't know about them. I also bought a couple of Allspice trees from them that are still making it, but the conditions here in Southwest Florida are tough on any plants until they really get established.

Thank you, sir.

Christi

Bananaman--The fruit, a 1 cm or so drupe, will turn purplish-black (sometimes with small white spots)when ripe. Birds will eat them so be careful. Seeds have a very short viability, so plant quickly. Seeds germinate in about 3 weeks.

Hey bananaman,

You don't have a true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), you have a true cassia tree (Cinnamomum burmanni)
. Not to fret, this is the commercial tree that traded cinnamon is based on. True cinnamom has a wider , more ridgid leaf, and a more mellow (less tannic) flavor which mainlanders and nongrowers will usually never taste.

If you have the climate for sub-tropical Lauraceae, try Persea. Avocados are good eating, the leaves can replace bay, and the bark is a mock cinnamom!

Aloha,

I am wondering if you are right Metrosideros. The tree was sold and tagged by Echo as Cinnamomum zeylanicum, so that is important that their nursery knows that is cassia. How sure are you about that? It would be hard to believe if they were propogating and selling this for so many years as the wrong species and nobody until now noticed. Do you have a site that makes that identification clear? Thanks

Hi Bananaman,

The photo you showed matches very well with Cinnamomum burmanii, known as the Padang cassia. The new flushing of copper red leaves is a give-away indicator for this species. I have one in my garden. The species has naturalized in the wild in Hawai'i, escaped from reforestation plantings.
I also have Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon) growing from a friend's mature tree, which looks unlike the plant in your photo. It has wider more rounded leaves.
The new leaves come out in red flushes, but not in the large brilliant flushes that your tree shows.
I was erroneous about your tree being the commercial source of cinnamon, which is Cinnamomum aromaticum, or cassia bark / bastard cinnamom.

All this is explained in detail in:

"A Tropical Garden Flora", G.E. Staples & D.R. Herbst. 2005. Bishop Museum Press. Honolulu, HI. pg. 366-367.
ISBN 1-58178-039-7

A priceless book for gardeners in Hawai'i and other sub-tropic zones.

I'm not sure if Wikipedia can help, with photos, etc.

I'll try to find more info.

aloha, Dave

Take a look at the mature leaves. C. burmannii leaves are more acute or pointed at the apex, C verum tends to be blunt or at least less acute at the apex. C burmannii leaves are also somewhat narrower than C verum

hope these links help

Cinnamomum zeylanicum http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cinn_zey.html . http://www.viable-herbal.com/herbdesc1/1cinnamo.htm , http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=68#summary , http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/cinnamonhistory.htm , http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/cinnamon.htm , http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/ , http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/cinna.htm , http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/south_asia_sri_lanka0s_spice_of_life/html/1.stm

Cinnamomum cassia http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cinn_cas.html , http://unitproj1.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=6

Indonesian Cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmannii) http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cinn_bur.html

Vietnamese cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi) http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cinn_lou.html

Cinnamon for health http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20060404/cinnamon-may-prove-useful-for-diabetes , http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4413 , http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/416645/ , http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1123

Rose, you really are amazing. Thanks for all of the links.

Christi

Christi,

those links are the same links i saved from helping someone @ DG long time ago. the more people inquire, the bigger the list become. i was not kidding when i said i had a huge collection of informative list.

helping others, help me in the process. i learn more as i find things.

i am glad others are also learning in the process.

ma vie

I make it a point to learn something new everyday. Several new things usually.

i learn a lot more when i do research either for me or somebody. it was a total blessing when the internet came about. it opened doors for a lot of people like us. subject/s once taboo are now available

Riviera Magazine May 2008

Questions for Aurélien Liutkus the talented Landscape Architect on planting a Mediterranean garden:

The Three Colours for the Riviera:

Camaieu blue like the sky and the sea,
shiny grey like the olive trees,
white like the dails of the boats.

Favourites:

Lights because a garden also lives in the evening. Who
can resist the breathtaking charm of flowers draped in the darkness, emaning wonderful scents ?
No doubt beauty is in the detail....


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