Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers., Syn. Pl. 2: 4 4 1807. (syn: Actinodaphne citrata (Blume) Hayata; Aperula citriodora (Siebold & Zucc.) Blume; Benzoin citriodorum Siebold & Zucc.; Benzoin cubeba (Lour.) Hatus.; Daphnidium cubeba (Lour.) Nees; Laurus cubeba Lour.; Lindera citrata (Blume) Koidz.; Lindera citriodora (Siebold & Zucc.) Hemsl.; Lindera dielsii H. Lév.; Litsea citrata Blume; Litsea citriodora (Siebold & Zucc.) Hatus.; Litsea cubeba f. obtusifolia Yen C. Yang & P.C. Huang; Litsea dielsii (H. Lév.) H. Lév.; Litsea mollifolia var. glabrata (Diels) Chun; Litsea mollis var. glabrata Diels; Malapoenna citrata (Blume) Kuntze; Malapoenna cubeba (Lour.) Kuntze; Persea cubeba (Lour.) Spreng.; Tetranthera citrata (Blume) Nees; Tetranthera cubeba (Lour.) Meisn.; Tetranthera polyantha Wall. ex Nees);
 
May Chang, mountain pepper, maqaw ;
 


May Chang (Litsea cubeba; Aromatic litsea) is an evergreen tree or shrub 5–12 meters high in the Lauraceae family.  

It is native to China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other parts of Southeast Asia.  
It is called “mountain pepper” (山胡椒) in Mandarin and maqaw (馬告) by the Atayal aborigines in Taiwan. As a famous spice among Taiwanese aborigines, a proposed National Park at Yilan County is named “Magao” after the spice.  
It produces a fruit which is processed for its lemony essential oil. The oil can also be extracted from the leaf, but this is considered to be lower in quality. The timber is sometimes used for making furniture and crafts. Plant parts are also used in medicine.Essential oil yields from the fruit are 3-5%. The oil’s main component is citral, at 70-85% of the oil.[1] It is mainly produced in China from plantations and is marketed as “Litsea cubebea”, with production estimates between 500 – 1,500 tonnes of oil per annum. The oil is used as a fragrance (especially in bar soap) and for flavouring in its own right. It is also used as a raw material by the chemical industry for the synthesis of vitamin A and violet-like fragrances.[2]Studies are being done on the essential oil from the seed for treatment of lung cancer. [3][4]
(From Wikipedia on 1.9.13) 


 
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Litsea cubeba
Family: Lauraceae
Loc.: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (ca 550m)
Uses: Tender fruits are crushed to make chutney.
Local name: Tapyir (Apatani tribes).


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Bomdilaplant 01: Pl. identify the fruiting plant with following data.

Locality: 2 Km from Bomdi-la toward Dhirang, on rocky slope West Kamen district in Arunachal Pradesh
Plant height: ca. 3 m (tree)
date of collection: 24.05.2010
Altitude: 8800 ft

Ethnomedicillay plant is very rich.

This looks more like a species of Neolitsea, to me. My guess is based on the last pair of veins of leaves.
Please check the leaf beneath whether it is glaucus (whitish/grayish). You can easily come to a conclusion whether it is a Lauracean by smelling the crushed leaf, you get a spicy smell on crushing the leaf.


The plant appears very close to Litsea cubeba (Lauraceae) which is grown in most of the houses in Arunachal Pradesh. Though the leaf shape looks different here. The fruits of L. cubeba have a very strong taste and are eaten after making Chutney.
Waiting for more comments.

Litsea citrata Blume


I agree with Litsea cubeba (Lauraceae).


   

 
References:

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