Calocedrus macrolepis Kurz - Cupressaceae - China Incense-cedar, 翠柏 (原变种) cui bai (yuan bian zhong), **Chinesische Weihrauchzeder**

Endangered coniferous tree, up to 35m high, endemic to China. 

A study of the wood oil from C.macrolepis growing in Vietnam showed α-terpineol (11.6%), myrtenal (10.6%), bornyl acetate (5.6%) and carvacrol methyl ether % (5.6%) to be the main components. Furthermore, benzyl benzoate (7.8%), δ-cadinene (6.5%), verbenone (3.8%), piperitone (4,4%), and acetoveratrone (3,4-dimethoxyacetophenone, 2.1%) were present. \\
[Composition of the wood oils of Calocedrus macrolepis, Calocedrus rupestris and Cupressus tonkinensis (Cupressaceae) from Vietnam. Dai, D. N., Thang, T. D., Thai, T. H., Thanh, B. V., & Ogunwande, I. A. , American Journal of Essential Oils and Natural Products, Vol.1(1), 2013, 28-33] [[http://www.essencejournal.com/vol1/issue1/pdf/8.1.pdf|PDF]]

|{{:terpineol_alpha.jpg| α-terpineol}} \\ α-terpineol |{{:myrtenal.png| myrtenal}} \\ myrtenal |{{:bornylacetate.jpg| bornyl acetate }} \\ bornyl acetate |{{:carvacrol.jpg|carvacrol }} \\ carvacrol |

"The wood is used for construction, but also for incense and EO distillation. Hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus resulted in 0.3%, v/w, oil yield... This oil is dominated by monoterpene alcohols (25.8%) and monoterpene ketones (26.7%), with a further 7.1% of monoterpene ethers and 2.3% of monoterpene esters. The main component was the monoterpene ketone verbenone (9.3%), followed by piperitone (8.6%), α-terpineol (6.0%) and cis-beta-terpineol (5.3%). There is only one sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, cadalene (0.4%). The terpineol family, with 13.5%, is responsible for the odor, together with carvacrol (1.8%) and thymol methylether (2.8%)." \\
[Schmidt, Erich, et al. "Analysis and olfactory description of four essential oils from Vietnam." Natural Product Communications 11.10 (2016): 1934578X1601101032.] [[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/1934578X1601101032|PDF]]

{{:calocedrus_mac.jpg?700|Calocedrus macrolepis}} \\
Calocedrus macrolepis, Taiwan (2026) © Chen Daphne [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/|CC BY-SA 4.0]] [[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=136236|inaturalist.org]]