Litsea cubeba

"May Chang" redirects here. For the Fullmetal Alchemist character, see List of Fullmetal Alchemist characters § May Chang.

Litsea cubeba is a species of evergreen tree in the family Lauraceae. It is a shrub that grows up to 5–12 meters high. It is sometimes referred to by the common names the aromatic litsea, may chang, mountain pepper (山胡椒; pinyin: shānhújiāo), mujiangzi (木姜子; pinyin: mùjiāngzǐ) or douchijiang (豆豉姜; pinyin: dòuchǐjiāng) in Mandarin and maqaw (馬告) by the Atayal of Taiwan. It produces a fruit which is processed for its lemony essential oil. The oil can also be extracted from the leaf, but this is considered to be lower in quality. The timber is sometimes used for making furniture and crafts. Plant parts are also used in medicine.

May chang
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Spermatophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Lauraceae
Genus:	Litsea
Species:	L. cubeba
Binomial name
Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers.
Varieties
Litsea cubeba var. cubeba Litsea cubeba var. formosana (Nakai) Yen C.Yang & P.H.Huang
Synonyms
Benzoin cubeba (Lour.) Hatus. Cubeba pipereta Raf. Daphnidium cubeba (Lour.) Nees Laurus cubeba Lour. Malapoenna cubeba (Lour.) Kuntze Persea cubeba (Lour.) Spreng. Tetranthera cubeba (Lour.) Kostel. synonyms of var. cubeba: Actinodaphne citrata (Blume) Hayata Aperula oxyphylla (Nees) Blume Benzoin aromaticum (Brandis) Rehder Benzoin oxyphyllum (Nees) Kuntze Cylicodaphne citrata (Blume) Kostel. Daphnidium oxyphyllum Nees Laurus piperita Meisn. Lindera aromatica Brandis Lindera citrata (Blume) Koidz. Lindera dielsii H.Lév. Lindera oxyphylla (Nees) Hook.f. Lindera reticulosa Kosterm. Litsea citrata Blume Litsea cubeba f. glabrata (Diels) N.Chao & J.S.Liu Litsea cubeba f. obtusifolia Yen C.Yang & P.H.Huang Litsea dielsii (H.Lév.) H.Lév. Litsea mollifolia var. glabrata (Diels) Chun Litsea mollis var. 'glabrata Diels Litsea muchuanensis Z.Y.Zhu Litsea piperita Mirb. Malapoenna citrata (Blume) Kuntze Malapoenna oliveriana Kuntze Tetranthera angustifolia Zoll. ex Meisn. Tetranthera citrata (Blume) Nees Tetranthera diepenhorstii Miq. Tetranthera floribunda Champ. ex Benth. Tetranthera oxyphylla Wall. Tetranthera polyantha Wall. ex Nees synonyms of var. formosana Aperula formosana Nakai

Distribution

It is native to Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, South-Central and Southeast China, East Himalaya, Hainan, Japan, Java, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam.

Oil extraction

Essential oil yields from the fruit are 3–5%. The oil's main component is citral, at 70–85% of the oil. It is mainly produced in China from plantations and is marketed as "Litsea cubeba", with production estimates between 500 and 1,500 tonnes of oil per annum. The oil is used as a fragrance (especially in bar soap) and for flavouring in its own right. It is also used as a raw material by the chemical industry for the synthesis of vitamin A and violet-like fragrances.

As a spice

It is used extensively as a spice by the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan, it is seen as a distinguishing feature of aboriginal cuisine.

External links

• Useful New Plants (L. cubeba)