Cinnamomum verum

Native to Sri Lanka, this evergreen tree grows in wet tropical regions and is cultivated in Colombia. Its glossy, leathery leaves are oval to oblong, with three to five prominent veins running from the base. New leaves emerge bright red and turn green as they mature. Small, yellowish or greenish-white flowers grow in branched clusters at the ends of shoots and in leaf axils. The fleshy, egg-shaped fruits contain a single seed and darken as they ripen. The familiar culinary spice comes from the inner bark: harvested shoots are stripped of their outer bark, and the inner layers are rolled and dried into quills or ground into powder. Photographed in Ecuador.