The best spacing in the field is a compromise between a higher yield of thin bark by planting closely and a lower yield of thick high quality bark which is obtained from more widely spaced trees.

They should, however, be planted close enough to encourage the formation of a tall straight trunk with as few branches as possible. The best spacing is about 1 m between plants. The use of Tephrosia candida (Roxb.) DC. as a nurse crop has been recommended in Sumatra. This may be sown six months ahead of the cassia in rows about 1 m apart and the young cassia trees are planted in clearings about 60-70 cm in diameter made in the Tephrosia, which later can be cut back to 15 cm and spread between the rows.

The perianth, which is pale yellow in colour, is deeply divided into 6 oblong blunt lobes. There are 9 functional stamens and 3 staminodes. The anthers are four-celled, opening by 4 valves or flaps. The central superior pistol has an oval ovary and a stout, short style. The fruits are smaller than those of C. verum and are black, pulpy, aromatic, elliptic drupes with a single seed borne in the cup of the calyx lobes. The fruits are avidly eaten by birds which disperse the seeds.

The bark has been known as a spice from the earliest times, in Western Europe from the seventh century and in England from the tenth, and the tree has been cultivated in the southernmost provinces of China “from time immemorial”. Cassia is described as similar to cinnamon but cheaper and commoner, and synamome was for lordes, but canelle (cassia) was for commyn people. This contemptuous evaluation of cassia is no longer entirely valid.

C. verum (syn. C. zeylanicum) is the only source of cinnamon and cinnamon oil recognized by the British Pharmacopoeia, whereas the United States Pharmacopoeia permits the use of cassia from various sources. For some time the United States’ ban on imports from Communist China precluded the use of Chinese cassia exported direct from China and they obtained their supply of cassia from C. burmannii from Indonesia, C. loureirii from Vietnam and other sources.

The bitter-tasting epidermis is removed, either by scraping, or with a small plane, and the bark is dried in the sun where it turns brown and curls into a hollow tube or quill. The quills are tied into bundles, but are not made into compressed quills as is the case with cinnamon. Harvesting normally occurs during April and May.

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