tejpatra :

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Cinnamomum
Species: Cinnamomum tamala

Allied species:

Cassia

Cinnamon

Saigon cinnamon

There are several other trees grown around the world that are also called bay leaves, namely: Californian Bay Leaf (Umbellularia californica, Lauraceae), Indian Bay Leaf (Cinnamomum tamala, Lauraceae), Indonesian Bay Leaf (salam leaf, Syzygium polyanthum, Myrtaceae), West Indian Bay Leaf (Pimenta racemosa, Myrtaceae), Mexican Bay Leaf (Litsea glaucescens, Lauraceae).

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: tamalpatra, patra, tejpatram, palash, chandan, ram, tapasaj, gopan, anshuk, tamala
English: cassia cinnamon Indian Cinnamon
Hindi: Tejpatra
Urdu: Tezpat
Telugu: Akupatri
Bengali: Tejpatra, Tejpata
Marathi: Tamalpatra
Konkani: tamal patta
Oriya: Tejapatra
Gujarathi: Tamala patra, Develee
Tamil: Lavangapatri
Malayalam: Karuvapatta patram ഇടനയില, കറുവപ്പട്ട ഇല, വഴന Itanayila, Karuvappatta-ila, Valana, Vazhana
Kannada: Tamalapatra, Dalchini Ele
Punjabi: Tajpater
Arabic: saynamum tamalaan
Assamese: Tejpat, Mahpat
Japanese: タマラ肉桂タマラニッケイ, テジパット Tamara-nikkei, Tejipatto
Chinese: 柴桂 [chái guì] Chai gui
French: Laurier des Indes
German: Indisches Lorbeerblatt, Mutterzimt
Burma: Thitchabo
Nepal: तेजपत्ता, शिसि, सिनकाुली Tejpatta, Sisi, Sinkauli
Greek: Μαλαβάθρον Malabathron

Varities:

bay laurel, a tree of Mediterranean origin in a different genus; the appearance and aroma of the two are quite different. Bay laurel leaves are shorter and light- to medium-green in color, with one large vein down the length of the leaf, while tejpat leaves are about twice as long and wider, usually olive green in color, with three veins down the length of the leaf.

There are five types of tejpat leaves and they impart a strong cassia- or cinnamon-like aroma to dishes, while the bay laurel leafs aroma is more reminiscent of pine and lemon.

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