Camphora officinarum is a species of evergreen tree indigenous to warm temperate to subtropical regions of East Asia, including countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and India. It is known by various names, most notably the camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel.
Description
Camphora officinarum grows up to 20–30 m (66–98 ft) tall. In Japan, where the tree is called kusunoki, five camphor trees are known with a trunk circumference above 20 m (66 ft), with the largest individual, Kamō no Ōkusu (蒲生の大楠; "Great camphor of Kamō"), reaching
The leaves have a glossy, waxy appearance and smell of camphor when crushed. In spring, it produces bright green foliage with masses of very small white fragrant flowers from which its common namesake "smells good tree" in Chinese 香樟 xiang zhang was given. It produces clusters of black, berry-like fruit around 1 cm (3⁄8 in) in diameter. Its pale bark is very rough and fissured vertically.
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Foliage and fruit in Sydney, Australia
Camphor grove in Hong Kong
