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
Cassia wine is also a traditional gift for birthdays in China. It is also considered a medicinal wine in traditional Chinese medicine. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of" Materia Medica credits sweet osmanthus with "curing the hundred diseases" and "raising the spirit". Within China, cassia wine is associated with Xi'an and Guizhou, but production now occurs throughout China, including Beijing and at the Hong Jiang Winery in Hunan. Despite the name, the Chinese cassia tree is not used to flavor cassia wine. References to the osmanthus in Chinese literature and poetry are often translated as "cassia" because both trees were formerly known in China