Economic Botany Collections

Samples from the Howard cinchona collection

Howard Collection

Cinchona bark was traditionally used in Peru to treat fever. However, it was not until the mid 19th century that the chemical quinine, found in many species of Cinchona, was isolated. There are high levels of quinine in Cinchona officinalis, C. calisaya and C. pubescens. These species are native to the Andes but have been cultivated around the world for their curative and preventative properties. Quinine’s efficacy at treating and preventing malaria caused demand for the drug to outgrow the supply, making it very expensive. Seeds were eventually taken from South America in the 1860s, and cinchona plantations were created in Java and India. From these plantations 95% of the world’s quinine was derived up until the Second World War.

The samples shown above are from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Howard Collection, now at Kew.

RUBIACEAE Cinchona officinalis. This bark sample was grown in India in 1871. EBC 52683

RUBIACEAE Cinchona lancifolia. This ‘coquetta bark’ sample was collected by Howard in 1873. The label reads: Fibrous coquetta bark quinine 1.2%. From the collection of the late J E Howard. 'Lancifolia'. EBC 52938

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