The roots are fibrous, hard, and tough, covered with an odoriferous bark; on the outside of a greyish brown, and on the inside of a reddish hue.  They strike about three feet into the earth, and spread to a considerable distance.  Many of them smell strongly of camphor, which is sometimes extracted from them.

The trees in their wild state will grow ordinarily to the height of 30 feet.  The trunk is about three feet in circumference, and throws out a great number of large spreading horizontal branches, clothed with thick foliage.  When cultivated for their bark, the trees are not permitted to rise above the height of ten feet.

The true cinnamon tree (according to Mr. Crawfurd) is not a native of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; but Marshall, in his description and history of the tree ("Annals of Philos,” vol. x.) assigns very extensive limits to its cultivation.  He asserts that it is found on the Malabar coast, in Cochin-China, and Tonquin, Sumatra, the Soolo Archipelago, Borneo, Timor, the Nicobar and Philippine Islands.  It has been transplanted, and grows well in the Mauritius, Bourbon and the eastern coast of Africa; in the Brazils, Guiana, in South America, and Guadaloupe, Martinique, Tobago, and Jamaica; but produces in the West a bark of very inferior quality to the Oriental.

Rumphius has remarked, that the trees which yield cinnamon, cassia, and clove bark (Cinnamonum Culilaban), though so much alike, are hardly ever found in the same countries.

The term clove bark has been applied to the barks of two different trees belonging to the natural order Laurineae.  One of these barks is frequently called “Culilaban bark.”  It consists of almost flat pieces, and is obtained from Cinnamonum Culilaban, a tree growing in Amboyna, and probably other parts of the Moluccas.

The other bark, known as clove bark, occurs in quills, which are imported from South America.  Murray says it is produced by the Myrtus carophyllata, a tree termed by Decandolle Syzgium carophyllaeum.  It appears, however, that this is an error, for both Nees and Von Martius declare it to be the produce of Dicypellium caryophyllatum; and the last quoted authority states that this tree is the noblest of all the laurels found in the Brazils, where it is called “Pao Cravo.”  It grows at Para and Rio Negro.

Cinnamon may be propagated by seeds, plants, or layers; roots also, if carefully transplanted, will thrive in favorable localities, and yield useful shoots in twelve months.  It is usually cultivated from suckers, which should not have more than three or four leaves, and require continual watering.  If raised from seed, the young plants are kept in a nursery for a year or two, and then transplanted; but the trees from seeds are longer arriving at maturity.  The plants are kept well earthed about the roots to retain the moisture, and coco-nut husks are placed above them, which in time form an excellent compost.