Camphor: A Diminishing Industry of Great Importance :: Botany

Camphor: A Diminishing Industry of Great Importance Camphor, a member of the Family Lauraceae (Heywood, 1978), is much valued in different parts of the world, particularly in China. This prized botanical has been said to originate in China, but there have been references to Japan, Taiwan and East Asia in similar time periods. Camphor is abundant in mostly sub-tropical countries including India and Ceylon. The camphor tree also thrives in Egypt, the Canary Islands, Argentina, Europe, Florida, California, and Formosa. As trade routes to the east developed, the camphor tree began to flourish. Particularly important to Formosa, its abundance on the island formerly gave Japan control of the natural supply of camphor (VanNostrand 1968). Characteristics The camphor tree is an evergreen tree possessing many branches, small clustered white flowers, and red berries much like cinnamon. The Cinnamomum camphora tree grows to be 80 - 120 feet tall and the trunk reaches 6 feet in diameter (Internet site 3). Because of its enormous size, it is known to be a provider of great amounts of shade, which is its primary purpose in Florida, California and other southern states. The camphor tree is linked as a reminiscent of the lime or linden tree originally from Europe (Internet site 2). It is a near relative to Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Janick 1969). In order to obtain a product from the tree, certain procedures must be accomplished. The old method of extracting camphor has yet remained and involves chopping down a tree that has aged over fifty years. The camphor is ready to be extracted only if the tree is over fifty years old. After cutting the tree down, it is cut up into small pieces and distilled by primitive means. The crude product obtained is further distilled to remove the oil of camphor present and obtain crystalline camphor (VanNostrand 1968). According to Dreamlink Limited of the United Kingdom, the oil is extracted by steam distillation from the pulverized wood, branches and stump and by condensing those vapors. There are three separate fractions of the camphor oil; white being the lightest, brown as the medium oil, and yellow being the heaviest oil. Each has the camphoraceous sharp odor (Internet site 3). The camphor crystallizes from the oily portion of the distillate and purification is completed by pressing the wood and also by sublimation. A notable fact about camphor is the abundance that can be gathered even in only a small amount of trees.