Neocinnamomum

{{Short description|Genus of shrubs}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Neocinnamomum delavayi - Kunming Botanical Garden - DSC02912.JPG

|image_caption = Neocinnamomum delavayi

|taxon = Neocinnamomum

|authority = H.Liu

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = See text

}}

Neocinnamomum (新樟属, xin zhang shu) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=121914 Flora of China online database][http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/pdf/pdf07/Neocinnamomum.pdf Flora of China Neocinnamomum treatment (pdf)]

Neocinnamomum require a warm and wet climate with no extremes of heat and cold. They occupy mid to high elevations and montane laurel forests.[http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/MEMBGNewsletter/Volume1number2/Neocinnamomum.html Newsletter of the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden]

Neocinnamomum leaves resemble those of true cinnamon (Cinnamomum) in possessing strongly three-veined blades, but they are arranged alternately rather than oppositely.

The flowers are very small and bisexual.{{cite journal|journal=Journal of the Arnold Arboretum|year=1939|author=Caroline K. Allen|title=Studies in Cinnamomum and Neocinnamomum|volume=20|pages=44–63|url=https://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_35196_studiesincinnamomumandneocinna1939/studiesincinnamomumandneocinna1939#page/n13/mode/2up}} The inflorescences are highly condensed, with poorly defined branching, their overall shape described as "glomerules".{{cite journal|author1=Wang, Z.-h. |author2=Li, J. |author3=Conran, J. |author4=Li, H.-w. |year=2010|title=Phylogeny of the Southeast Asian endemic genus Neocinnamomum H. Liu (Lauraceae)|journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution|volume=290|issue=1|pages=173–184|doi=10.1007/s00606-010-0359-1|bibcode=2010PSyEv.290..173W }} Pollination is by insects.{{cite journal|author=Susan S. Renner|year=2004|title=Variation in diversity among Laurales, Early Cretaceous to Present|journal=Biologiske Skrifter|volume=55|pages=441–458|url=http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Laurales%20clocks2005.pdf}} The seeds are dispersed by birds, which eat the fruit which are berry-like drupes. The red fruits of N. caudatum are eaten by humans.{{cite journal|url=http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/13431/1/IJTK%2011%281%29%20166-171.pdf|title=Wild edible plants used by the Garo tribes of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Mechalaya, India|journal=Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge}} The fruits are ellipsoid or globose (round). Some species also propagate vegetatively.

Neocinnamomum mekongense is a species that grows in the mountains north of Dali, China. It is popular with butterflies, which possibly are attracted by secretions from extrafloral nectaries.[http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Plantae/Neocinnamomum_Genus.asp Zipcode Zoo]

It has been suggested that fossil flowers from the late Cretaceous of North America known as Neusenia tetrasporangi are a close match to Neocinnamomum,{{cite journal|url=http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Chanderbali_et_alAMBG2001.pdf|title=Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of Lauraceae: Evidence from the Chloroplast and Nuclear Genomes|author= Andre S. Chanderbali|author2= Henk van der Werff|author3= Susanne S. Renner|name-list-style= amp|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|volume=88|issue=1|year=2001|pages=104–134|doi=10.2307/2666133|jstor=2666133 }} and phylogenetic analysis from living plants might also indicate that Neocinnamomum is one of the earliest surviving lineages of the Lauraceae.