by Piter Kehoma Boll
Most spices in the world come from Europe and Asia, at least the most famous ones. However, a few less known spices can be found natively in other parts of the world as well. Today I will present you one of these little-known spice plants, Canella winterana, known in English as the wild cinnamon or pepper cinnamon.
This tree species is native from southern Florida and most of the Caribbean and usually reaches a height of about 10 m, sometimes growing up to 15 m. The bark is light gray and thick, with many small crevices that break it into small scales.
The small flowers have five dark-red petals and appear in small inflorescences at the end of the branches. They appear during autumn and are monoecious, i.e., have both male and female organs. All flowers of a single plant tend to open at about the same time and exhibit the female function for about 24h. After that, the female organ dries out and the flowers enter into a neuter phase that can last from as little as 1 h to more than 12 h, but never more than 24 h. After that, the male part finally becomes mature, again in all flowers of the plant at the same time. The small fruits, which are also dark-red when ripe, are eaten by many bird species.
The bark of the pepper cinnamon has a similar scent to that of the true cinnamon Cinnamomum verum, and it is said to be used in a similar way, hence the name. The fruits can also be dried and used as a spice. Unfortunately, I was only able to find very little information about this culinary use of the plant besides several sources simply stating that it is used like that. Is this use widespread in Caribbean cultures? Is it an important ingredient of some particular dish? If someone can answer those questions, please, leave a comment!
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References:
Makowski, H., Majetic, C., Garrett, P., Johnson, S., Schurr, P., & Moore, R. (2021). Floral scent is different between sexual phases within individuals in a synchronously dichogamous shrub (Canella winterana) but there is no distinct female or male scent profile across individuals. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 96, 104270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2021.104270
Wikipedia. Canella. Available at < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canella >. Access on 2 December 2021.
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