Vegetative and reproductive phenology of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl grown in intermediate climatic zone of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Efficient harvesting of cinnamon while maximizing the yield is highly dependent on its phenology. Many important studies on Ceylon cinnamon have been undertaken, though in-depth studies on vegetative and reproductive phenology of Cinnamomum verum are limited. Therefore, this study investigated the vegetative and reproductive phenology of C. verum, giving particular emphasis on the major phenological phases such as leaf flushing, flowering, and fruiting. The investigation was carried out during January 2018 to March-2019 to cover a complete annual phenological cycle at the Thihagoda site, in the intermediate climatic zone of Sri Lanka. The results indicate that the leaf emergence of C. verum in Sri Lanka takes place in flushes which appeared to be controlled by two factors, the seasonality and the rainfall after a dry period. The seasonal flushing took place in the four months period from February to May. The leaf longevity of C. verum in Sri Lanka is longer than 15 months. The leaf fall was not continuous and limited to a five-month period from March to July with a peak in March. The flowering in C. verum took place during October and November, however only 18.6 ± 5.6% of flower buds matured to flowers. Moreover, 94.1 ± 8.5% of flowers developed into young fruits. The timing of these phenological traits is important to manage the cinnamon productivity as it is recognized that the peeling ability of C. verum depends on the cambial activity which is controlled by source-sink relationships in assimilate partitioning in C. verum.