Qin ling mu jiang zi
Litsea tsinlingensis
Family: Lauraceae
What it is like
A shrub. It loses its leaves during the year. The small branches are smooth. The leaves are alternate. The leaf stalk is 1 cm long. The leaves are oval and 7-11 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. There is a white covering over both surfaces when young. There are 6-8 pairs of side veins. The flower umbel occurs singly at the tip of the small branches. There are 10-11 flowers per group. The fruit is round and 5-6 mm across. Fruit are black at maturity.
There are 200 or 400 Litsea species.
Where it is found
A temperate plant. It grows in mountain slopes and in thickets between 1000-2400 m altitude in central China.
Countries/locations it is found in
Asia, China
How it is used for food
The leaves and fruit are used to extract oil used to give a sweet smell to food.
Edible parts
Leaves- oil, fruit-oil