Saigon cinnamon (
Cinnamomum loureiroi, also known as
Vietnamese cinnamon or
Vietnamese cassia and
Quế Trà My or
Quế Thanh or " Quế Trà Bồng" in Vietnam) is an
evergreen tree in the genus
Cinnamomum, indigenous to mainland Southeast
Asia. Despite its name, it is more closely related to cassia (
C. cassia) than to
cinnamon (
C. verum, “true cinnamon”, Ceylon cinnamon), though in the same genus as both. Saigon cinnamon has 1-5% essential oil in content and 25%
cinnamaldehyde in essential oil, which is the highest of all the cinnamon species. Consequently, out of the three species, it commands the highest price.