LaShaun Jones, age 12, of New Bedford, Mass., for her question:

WHERE DO WE GET CINNAMON?

Cinnamon, the spice used in cooking and in flavoring candies, is made from the inner bark of branches of the cinnamon laurel tree. This tree grows in such tropical regions as the Malagasy Republic, Sri Lanka and southwestern India.

Cinnamon has a very pleasant taste and odor. The cinnamon tree grows to be 30 feet tall. It has oval leaves and tiny pale yellow flowers. The fruit of the tree is shaped like an acorn.

Cinnamon trees grown for their bark are usually kept small or dwarfed. This is done by cutting the tree close to the lower buds. Then the bark of the lower branches is peeled for use as cinnamon.

The bark is usually peeled in April and November. As the bark dries, it curls up and turns light brown. The bark is divided according to quality by people who taste samples.

Finally the bark is packed into 90 pound bundles for sale.

An oil is also prepared from the leaves, fruit and the root of the cinnamon plant. The thick oil was once used to make candies for the king of Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka.