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Litsea Cubeba (Litsea cubeba), known in Chinese as may chang and to Taiwan's Indigenous Atayal people as maqaw, is a small flowering tree of the laurel family native to southern China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, bearing small pepper-like fruits packed with one of the most radiant citrus oils in the plant kingdom. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, may chang has long been valued as a warming remedy — used to move stagnant qi, settle a cold and unhappy digestion, and ease aching muscles and joints — while Atayal cooks and healers have treasured the peppery-lemon fruit as both spice and medicine for generations. The oil is exceptionally rich in citral (often 70 percent or more, higher than lemongrass), the compound behind its sparkling lemon-verbena scent, and modern studies have explored its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and calming properties. Where lavender soothes by softness, litsea cubeba lifts by brightness — a sunny, steadying note honored by tradition on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
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