Camphortree (Cinnamomum camphora)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Superorder	Magnolianae
Order	Laurales
Family	Lauraceae
Genus	Camphora

Scientific Name

Camphora officinarum

Scientific Name Synonyms

Cinnamomum camphora

Laurus camphora

Camphora camphora

Common Name

camphortree

Miller, J.H., E.B, Chambliss, N.J. Loewenstein. 2010. A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests. General Technical Report SRS-119. Asheville, NC. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 126 p.

Plant

Evergreen tree 60 to 100 feet (18 to 30 m) in height and boles up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, with a round spreading crown formed by large branches radiating from midtree. Also found in dense thickets from root sprouts and seedlings. Glossy, lanceolate leaves and slender, green to reddish-brown twigs having a camphor odor when crushed, cut, or bruised. Abundant clusters of spherical, black drupes in fall to winter.

Stem

Twigs slender, smooth, and green to yellowish green sometimes tinged with red, with scattered light dots (lenticels). Corky ridges encircle junctures of new growth with jutting leaf scars on prior year’s growth. Buds 0.5 inch (1.2 cm) long, sharp-pointed, with overlapping scales. Branches green eventually reddish, smooth and glossy, increasingly covered with gray corky ridges and plates that fissure with age. Bark light grayish brown and widely fissured, developing vertical plates with age.

Leaves

Alternate but more clustered at twig tips, evergreen, leathery and glossy with a camphor odor when crushed, lanceolate, ovate to obovate, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long and 0.8 to 2 inches (2 to 5 cm) wide. Burgundy when young turning dark green with light-green veins above, whitish green beneath with tiny, brownish glands in axils of main veins, also evident as light dots on the upper surface. Margins entire, yellowish green, and wavy. Petioles slender to 1 inch (2.5 cm) long.

Flowers

May. Slender, stalked, axillary panicles, 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 cm) long with perfect tiny, greenish-white, fragrant flowers, with both male and female parts.

Fruit and seeds

July to February. Many fleshy, rounded drupes, 0.3 inch (0.7 cm) wide, dangling, green turning black with a funnel-shaped, green base.

Ecology

Rapid growing, forming thickets and dense stands in fencerows, disturbed sites, and adjacent upland forests. Grows in well-drained, acid to basic soils and can withstand partial shade. Cannot tolerate extended cold temperatures below 20 °F (-6 °C). Colonizes by root sprouts and spreads by prolific animal- and water-dispersed seeds.

Resembles

Resembles another nonnative invasive, Chinese tallowtree [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small], which is deciduous and emits no camphor odor. Also resembles Carolina laurelcherry [Prunus caroliniana (Mill.) Ait.], considered an invasive native evergreen tree that has smooth, dark gray bark and leaves that emit an almond scent when crushed.

History and use

Introduced in 1727 from Japan, China, and Taiwan as an ornamental and herbal plant, although it is toxic to humans in large doses. The wood widely used in Asia for chests, panels, and lumber.

Distribution

Found as scattered plants or in dense infestations in southeast TX; south MS, AL, LA, and GA; east SC and NC; and central and north FL.

Camphortree [Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl] is an evergreen tree 60 to 100 feet (18 to 30 m) in height, with boles up to 2 feet (0.6 m) in diameter and a round spreading crown formed by large branches radiating from midtree. Leaves are glossy, lanceolate, alternate at twig tips, and have a camphor odor when crushed, cut, or bruised. Twigs are slender, green-to-reddish brown. Abundant clusters of spherical, black drupes are present in fall to winter, and are spread by animals, water, and gravity. Colonizes by root sprouts and is found in dense thickets.

Management strategies

• Do not plant. Remove prior plantings. Bag and dispose of fruit in a dumpster or burn.
• Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
• Cut and bulldoze when fruit are not present.
• Manually pull new seedlings and tree wrench saplings when soil is moist, ensuring removal of all roots.
• Burning treatments are useful for seedling and sapling topkill when leaflitter is present, and fires can be hot.

Recommended control procedures

Large trees. Make stem injections using undiluted Garlon 3A (June through September) or Vanquish* as a 75-percent solution (9 quarts per 3-gallon mix) with water (June through November) in cut-spacings specified on the herbicide label. For stems too tall for foliar sprays, cut large stems and immediately treat the stump tops with Garlon 3A as a 30-percent solution (7 pints per 3-gallon mix) or Garlon 4 as a 25-percent solution (3 quarts per 3-gallon mix), and add a penetrant for more effective control. ORTHO Brush-B-Gon, Enforcer Brush Killer, and Vine-X are effective undiluted for treating cut-stumps and available in retail garden stores (safe to surrounding plants).

Saplings. Apply a basal spray for trees up to 4 inches in diameter using Garlon 4 as a 30-percent solution (7 pints per 3-gallon mix) in a labeled basal oil product, vegetable oil or mineral oil with a penetrant, or fuel oil or diesel fuel (where permitted).

Seedlings and saplings. Thoroughly wet all leaves with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant: a glyphosate herbicide, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4, or Clearcast* for wetlands and aquatic sites, as 2-percent solutions (8 ounces per 3-gallon mix).

* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.

Images

December	June	June	June
June	October	November	November

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