It is one of the first spices ever sought after, with references to its use in the Bible and in ancient Egypt. The Portuguese colonized Sri Lanka for its wild cinnamon until driven out by the Dutch in 1636, who began cultivation of cinnamon. The Dutch monopoly of the cinnamon trade ended in 1796 when the English East India Company took control of the cinnamon trade. Cinnamon trees were later introduced to Indonesia, India and the Seychelles, however cinnamon from Sri Lanka is regarded as the best quality. The evergreen cinnamon tree grows to over 30 feet in the wild, but is kept shorter under cultivation.
Cinnamon trees thrive in tropical maritime climates at low altitudes.
The bark is harvested or peeled from the trees and made into quills by hand rolling and drying in the sun. The quills can be ground or processed into oil for cooking purposes. The sweet, somewhat woody aroma is fragrant and strong, and the flavor is very distinctive and warming. The sweet orange is the most popular of all citrus fruits. During the first century the orange was spread to Japan, India and the Near East.