Flora Medica

CINCHONACE^;.description 21. t. 2. C. purpurea Fl Peruv. ii. 52. t. 193. Cascarillomorado Ruiz Quinol. 67. Groves on the lower parts ofthe Andes where it is cool at night,in the districts of Chinchao,Pati, Muna, Iscutunam, Casapi, Casapillo and ChihuamccalaJR. and P. Mountain ridges of Panatahuas, Loxa, Jaen, andother provinces, on low hills, Ruiz MSS. Cuchero Poppig.Santa Fe".Young branches covered with a short close down. Leaves neverscrobiculate, when young rather thin, not shining, slightly downy onboth sides, especially on the under, and upon the petioles, sometimesquite soft in those parts, when older quite smooth, much firmer, andquite shining ;those near and among the inflorescence roundish, sometimesbroader than long, tapering into a long stalk, or merely ovate,for they vary very much upon the same specimen ;those below theinflorescence ovate-oblong, or almost exactly oval, and acute. Pedunclestrichotomously branched, corymbose, many flowered, tomentose inthe axils of the upper leaves, forming a short and broad spreadingleafy thyrse, the flowers in which are by no means compactly arranged ;the subdivisions are in fact almost at right angles with each other.Pedicels and calyx-tube covered with a short close fur; the limb of thelatter downy only, with 5 shallow, ovate, acute teeth. Corolla with atomentose tube, much narrowed at the base, and almost six times aslong as that of the calyx limb ; deep purple, shaggy inside. Fruittomentose, narrow, oval, as thick at one end as the other, rather morethan an inch long. Of this Mr. Lambert's herbarium contains 7 specimens,and Dr. Thomson's 5, besides which I possess one from SantaFe de Bogota, collected by a pupil of Zea. It is probably the plantintended in the drawing sent by Mutis to Linnaeus, under the name ofCinchona peruviana, and now preserved in the Linnean herbarium ;andit is quite certain that the principal part of the loose flowers accompanyingthe drawing belong to No it. species can well be more disdistinctlymarked, as will be seen by the preceding description, notwithstandingthat it varies so much in the form of its leaves. Tt is nota little curious that Vahl, who first described this from Peruvian specimensgiven him by Joseph Jussieu, should not have discovered thatthe specimens in the Linnean herbarium, which he examined, belongedto it.It is one of the species called in Peru" Cascarillo bobo de hoja moradaaccording to Ruiz, who in the Quinologia says that the bark is notknown separately in commerce, but is mixed with that of C. lanceolata,hirsuta, and nitida; it appears to possess all their good qualities. Butin his manuscript History he alters this opinion, and classes it onlyamong the second rate barks.Poppig, who calls it Case, boba colorada, describes this species as " atree of considerable elevation and circumference, by which alone itmight be discriminated from the allied species of Cinchona, as well asby its very large and membranaceous leaves, which are covered on theunderside with broad, prominent, violet-coloured veins, that are sonumerous in the young state as to give their own hue to the entireleaf. The bark, in a fresh state, is extremely bitter, and may probablybe found useful for making cheap decoctions, as it can be sold at a verylow price. It is not now universally collected, but formerly served foroccasionally adulterating the better kinds ;an imposition, however, that420