Cassia, also called Chinese cinnamon, spice consisting of the aromatic bark of the Cinnamomum cassia plant of the family Lauraceae. Similar to true cinnamon, cassia bark has a more pungent, less delicate flavour and is thicker than cinnamon bark. It contains from 1 to 2 percent oil of cassia, a volatile oil, the principal component of which is cinnamic aldehyde. Cassia bark is used as a flavouringin cooking and particularly in liqueurs and chocolate. Southern Europeans prefer it to cinnamon, but, in North America, ground cinnamon is sold without distinction as to the species from which the bark is obtained.