Oliveri Cortex. Br. Oliver's Bark [Black Sassafras]
"Oliver's Bark is the dried bark of Cinnamomum Oliveri, Bailey." Br.
The genus Cinnamomum comprises some fifty-four species which are mostly tropical or subtropical evergreen shrubs or trees. They are mostly aromatic and comprise two principal groups: The one yielding camphor, and the other aromatic barks like cinnamon. Oliver's bark was official in the Ind. and Col. Add. for the Australian Colonies and is now official in the British Pharmacopoeia. The tree which furnishes this bark is Cinnamomum Oliveri Bailey (Fam. Lauraceae). It is indigenous to New South Wales and Queensland. It is much of the same habit as the trees yielding cinnamon and the bark is used as a substitute for this spice in the Australian Colonies.
"In flat pieces usually about twenty centimetres long, four centimetres wide and one centimetre thick. Cork greyish-brown, very warty. Inner surface umber-brown, satiny. Fracture short, slightly fibrous. In transverse section, umber-brown, a pale line separating the cork from the inner tissues. Aromatic odor; taste aromatic, bitter, camphoraceous." Br.
Off. Prep.—Tinctura Oliveri Corticis, Br.
