Cinchona pubescens (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cinchona pubescens Vahl

Protologue: Skrivt. Naturh. Selsk. 1: 19 (1790).

Synonyms

• Cinchona cordifolia Mutis (1793),
• Cinchona succirubra Pav. ex Klotzsch (1858).

Vernacular names

• Red cinchona (En).

Distribution

Naturally distributed in Central and South America from Costa Rica to Bolivia; planted in many tropical countries, e.g. in India and Indonesia (Java).

Uses

The bitter constituents of the bark are a traditional anti-malarial of South-America, and have been used in the Malesian region since the 19th Century. The quinine is rather difficult to extract from the bark; also used as rootstock for C. officinalis.

Observations

• A small to medium-sized tree, up to 30 m tall.
• Leaves 24-50 cm × 17-40 cm, pubescent and without domatia beneath.
• Flowers with calyx pubescent outside and greenish-white corolla reddish towards lobes, 15-21 mm long.
• Fruit (20-)30-40 mm long, initially pubescent but glabrescent.

C. pubescens occurs naturally in mountainous regions at 1000-3700 m altitude. In Java, it is planted at (1000-)1250-1600(-2000) m.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• Badan Litbang Pertanian & APPPI, 1995. Petunjuk kultur teknis tanaman kina [Technical instructions for the planting of kina]. Jakarta, Indonesia. 143 pp.
• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I- Z) pp. 1241-2444.
• Dharma, A.P., 1981. Indonesische geneeskrachtige planten [Indonesian medicinal plants]. De Driehoek, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 168 pp.
• Gramiccia, G., 1987. Notes on the early history of cinchona plantations. Acta Leidensia 55: 5-13.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• Mansfeld, R., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaflicher und gaertnerischer Kulturpflanzen (ohne Zierpflanzen) [Register of agricultural and horticultural plants (withouth ornamentals)]. 2nd Edition, revised by J. Schultze Motel. 4 volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 1998 pp.
• Purseglove, J.W., 1968-1972. Tropical crops. Longman, London. United Kingdom. Dicotyledons. 2 volumes (1968), 719 pp. Monocotyledons. 2 volumes (1972), 607 pp.
• Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• Samuelsson, G. (Editor), 1992. Drugs of natural origin, a textbook of pharmacognosy. Swedish Pharmaceutical Press, Stockholm, Sweden. 320 pp.
• Zandvoort, E.A. & Staritsky, G., 1983. In vitro propagation of Cinchona ledgeriana. Tropical Crops Communications 6. Agricultural University Wageningen, the Netherlands. 12 pp.

Main genus page

• Cinchona (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• G. Staritsky, E. Huffnagel, A. Dharmadi & S.L. Dalimoenthe