The leaves have a glossy, waxy appearance and smell of camphor when crushed.
In spring it produces bright green foliage with masses of small white flowers.
It produces clusters of black berry-like fruit around one centimetre in diameter.
It has a pale bark that is very rough and fissured vertically.
Camphor is a white crystalline substance, obtained from the tree Cinnamomum camphora.
Camphor has been used for many centuries as a culinary spice, a component of incense and as a medicine.
Camphor is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance.
Cinnamomum camphora is native to Taiwan, southern Japan, southeast China and Indochina, where it is also cultivated for camphor and timber production.
It was used medicinally and was also an important ingredient in the production of smokeless gunpowder and celluloid.
Primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found.