Tejpatta / Indian Bay Leaf
Cinnamomum tamala
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Assam & more
- Flowering
- January-February
How to identify Tejpatta
Identify Tejpatta by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Leaves used as a culinary spice (Indian bay leaf).
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: January-February.
- In India, compare location records such as Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Assam, Meghalaya and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Lauraceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Tejpatta.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Cinnamomum tamala
- Genus
- Cinnamomum
- Family
- Lauraceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Distribution
- India, Tropical and subtropical himalayas, Bangladesh
- Found in India
- Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra
- Flowering & fruiting
- January-February
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Tejpatta itself; the rest are typical of the Lauraceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Panicle
- Fruit
- Drupe
Typical of the Lauraceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- तेजपत्ता Tejpatta, Tejpatta
- Nepali
- तेज पात Tej Paat, तेजपात
- Bengali
- তেজপাত Tejpat, Tamala, Tejpat, তেজপাতা
- Tamil
- தாலிஸபத்திரி Talisapattiri, தமாலபத்திரி Tamalapattiri
- Telugu
- Talisapatri, Talisha, Patta akulu, తమాల వృక్షం
- Kannada
- Patraka, ಕಾಡು ದಾಲ್ಚಿನ್ನಿ
- Malayalam
- തമാലപത്രമ് Tamalapatram, വഴന, എടന
- Sanskrit
- Tamaal patra
- Gujarati
- Tamalapatra, Tejpat
- Assamese
- Mahpat, তেজপাত
About Tejpatta
Indian Bay Leaf (Cinnamomum tamala) is a tree in the Lauraceae family. In India it has been recorded in Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Assam and 8 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from January to February.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten and long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Lauraceae
Laurel/Cinnamon family
Tejpatta belongs to the Lauraceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Lauraceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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