Neolitsea cassia Neolitsea cassia Neolitsea cassia is a species of tree in the Lauraceae family. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is known as "dawulu kurundu - දවුල් කුරුදු" or "kudu dawula - කුඩු දවුල" in Sinhala. Bark - thick, smooth, gray; W- light, hard, pale orange. Montane and rain forest understory. Wood - panelling; leaves- mucilaginous extract used in preparation of local sweet called "aasmi" ; Bark,leaves- medicinal. Straight stem with greyish bark and short, slender branches. The leaf flush is smooth, silvery copper, drooping, crowded at the ends of branchlets, and turn bright green when mature. Leaves are lanceolate
Five-spice powder Five-spice powder Five-spice powder is a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine and also used less commonly in other Asian and Arabic cuisines. Five-spice powder is used for cocktails as well. While there are many variants, a common mix is: Other recipes may contain anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, "Amomum villosum" pods (砂仁), "Amomum cardamomum" pods (白豆蔻), licorice, Mandarin orange peel or galangal. In Southern China, "Cinnamomum loureiroi" and Mandarin orange peel are commonly used as substitutes for "Cinnamomum cassia" and cloves respectively, producing a slightly different flavour profile for southern