Aromatic Litsea, Mountain pepper, Fragrant Litsea
Litsea cubeba

Family: Lauraceae

What it is like

A small tree. It loses its leaves during the year. It grows up to 10 m tall. The branches are black and hairy. The leaves are alternate. The leaf stalks are 6-20 cm long. The leaf blade is oblong and 4-11 cm long by 1.1-2.4 cm wide. The leaves are wedge shaped at the base and taper to the tip. There are 6-16 pairs of side veins on each side of the midrib. The leaves have a lemon scent. Flowers are separately male and female. The berries are black. They are 5 mm across.

It is used in medicine. There are 200 or 400 Litsea species.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. In southern China it occurs on sunny slopes near water between 500-3200 m altitude. In Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Sikkim, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

How it is used for food

The fruit are used as a spice in place of Piper cubeba. It is used to flavour goat's meat and fish. It is used for pickles. The flowers cam be eaten or used for tea. The roots are cooked with pork. The fruit, bark and leaves are used as a curry ingredient by the Karen. They have the smell of lemon grass when crushed.

It is an important oil and spice plant in China. It is sold in local markets. It is cultivated.

Edible parts

Fruit - spice, root, flowers - tea, leaves - flavouring

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by seeds.

In Nagaland fruit are available May to August. In Sikkim March to May.

Its other names

Local names

Chun, Cubeba oil tree, Dieng-si-sing, Earking, Entsurem, Ge zhang mu jiang, Guo sai kai teng, Jayar, Kybahoria, Mang tang, May chang, Medang lemo tree, Mejankeri, Mo ye la pi, Ngairong, Nge, Oosingsha mapaan, Pheasant-pepper, Pohon medang lemo, Pohon minyak kubeba, Rayil, Sehnam, Seknam, Ser-nam, Sernam, Shan ji jiao, Siltimbur, Siltimur, Singuno, Siqbil, Si xiao si, Taier, Tanghaercherkung, Tayer, Tayir schein, Teer, Terhilsok, Usingsa, Voting, Zeng-jil

Synonyms

Laurus cubeba (Lour.) Persoon; Litsea citrata Blume; Tetranthera polyantha Wallich ex Nees var. citrata Meissner; Lindera pipericarpa Boerl.; and several others