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  • In pictures

The cinchona tree, malaria and colonisation

Ever since the discovery of cinchona bark as a treatment for malaria in 17th-century South America, the cinchona tree has accompanied European colonisation around the world. Kim Walker tracks the human and ecological impact of this global commodity.

  • Article

Hunting lost plants in botanical collections

A bark specimen at Kew recalls the story of a South American man who harvested the most potent source of the only effective malaria treatment available in the late 1800s. Killed for his work and forgotten by history, Manuel Mamani was a victim of the colonial juggernaut.

  • Article

The healing power of the physic garden

Having experienced the healing power of plants and gardens, Iona Glen goes in search of present-day “physic gardens” and their origins in history.

  • Article

How Indigenous insight inspires sustainable science

The forest of the Amazon Basin is inextricably bound up with the lives of the Indigenous peoples living there. Find out how they feel about the forest, use what it provides, and try to protect it from aggressive commercial exploitation.

All stories (4)

Images

  • The imaginary castle of the Countess of Chinchon, where cinchona (quinine) was allegedly discovered. Watercolour.
  • A cinchona (quinine) nursery, India (?): planted in rows on a mountainside. Photograph, 1910/1920 (?).
  • The Munsong cinchona plantation, Kalimpong, Bengal, India: Cinchona succirubra trees (used in production of the anti-malarial drug quinine); a plantation worker stands in front of the trees holding a large container. Photograph, 1905/1920 (?).
  • A cinchona (used to produce the anti-malarial drug quinine) exploration camp in an Indian (?) forest. Photograph, 1905/1920 (?).
  • The Munsong cinchona plantation, Kalimpong, Bengal, India: scraping cinchona bark (used to produce the anti-malarial drug quinine) from a tree; an Indian man in a turban and an Indian boy. Photograph, 1905/1920 (?).
  • A map of Paraguay and surrounding area, illustrating where cinchona (quinine) was allegedly first discovered in 1626(?). Etching by D.V. Rossi.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 1: the count of Chinchón receives the febrifuge from his native servant. Oil painting.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
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