July a, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



27 



deserves the rank of a species. Mr. Howard believes it 

 to be a form of C. Calisai/a. Dr. Otto Kunze considers 

 it to be a hybrid of C. micrantlia and C. Cnlisaija, and 

 Dr. Ti'imen has raised it to the rank of a distinct species. 



In the paper read at the Linneau Society Mr. Howard 

 reiterated his opinion that the Ledgeriana is only a 

 variety of 0. Cn/i.mya^ and criticized the figure and de- 

 scription of the plant given by Dr. Trimen in the ■'Journal 

 of Botany" (Nov. ISSl p. 3'il) remarkiug that there ap- 

 peared to be no proof that the plant therein figured was 

 descended from seed sent by Mr. Ledger, and that its 

 identification rested chiefly on Mr. Moens' accuracy of 

 botanical discrimination. Mr. Howard seemed inclined to 

 beUeve that the plant figui-ed and described by Dr. Tri- 

 men is the male form of Ciiickoiia mieriintha var. C''Hsrri/- 

 o'uhis, the female plant of which is figured in Curtisjs 

 Botanical Magazine as C: CaJisaya var. Josephiaiin by Sir 

 J. D. Hooker. It also bears some resemblance to the 

 plan"; described by Howard as C. Forbesiaiin. Mr. 

 Howard exhibited some hving specimens of the plant 

 which he considers the true C. Ledgeriana, the 

 bark of which yields on an average from 7 to 12 p?r 

 cent of Quinine. The leaves of this plant were easily djs- 

 tiuguished from other varieties of Oalisaya placed upon the 

 table at the meeting by their beautiful satiny gloss which 

 gave them a lustrius appearance like green velvet, also by 

 the hairy margin of the leaves like those of the Oalisaya 

 of — f blank in the IIS.] A tree covered with leaves of this 

 character must indeed be a glorious sight, such as the best 

 oalisaya is describrd to be by travellers in Bolivia. 



At the same meeting Mr. T. Christy, F. L. S., exhibited 

 yoiuig plants grown from the seed recently obtained by 

 liim from Bolivia. Several of these were evidently absolutely 

 identical with Mr. Howard's Ledgeriana both in the glossy 

 appearance and in the shape of the leaves. Others were 

 evidently judging from the large size and different shape of 

 the leaves and more \'igorou3 giowth, the calisaya •' verde" 

 of Weddell and Markham. Mr. Howard acknowledged that 

 Mr. Christy's plants (apparently obtained from his " morada" 

 seeds) were true Ledgeriana* and that the " verde" also 

 appeared to be the true plant. He added that no seed of 

 such extreme importance to cinchona cultivators had been 

 obtaineil by any one since Ledger sent home his valuable 

 supply and that great credit was due to Mr. Christy for 

 his success in procuring it. 



The diBSculty of prociu-ing the seed of Ledgeriana from Boli- 

 via was illustrated by the fact that Schuehkraft, who was 

 35 years in that country and married a wife having estates 

 in the Yungas and most of whose servants were bark cut- 

 ters, was unable to procure the seed, while Markham, "Wed- 

 dell and others e(|u;dly failed. 



It would appear from Mr. Howard's remarks that there 

 are several cinciionas in cultivation both in Java and Ceylon, 

 and possibly elsewhere under the name of " Ledgeriana," 

 which are not that plant. 



It was in ignorance of this fact that a hybrid plant was 

 sent to Jamaica as caUsaya. An analysis of the bark of a 

 small tree of the C. mwrantha var. Calisat/oides gave only, 

 quinine 050, quinidine 0"25, eiuchonine 0'85. 



Mr. Howard's opinion is also supported by that of Dr. Otto 

 Kuntze, who states in the Joiirnal of Botany (January, 18N3) 

 that the JIungpo Ledgeriana has very divaricate panicles of 

 inflorescence with slender ramification like those of C. mi^ 

 erantha, while the Bolivian Ledgerianas, as seen in Java and 

 Southern India, have a more dense panicle with thicker or 

 shorter branches. The Mungpo plant is shrubby in stature, 

 while the Bolivian plant is a veritable tree. Various other 

 points have been discussed, such as the sterihty of C. Ledy- 

 eriaiia, the small size of the flowers, etc. The point of great- 

 est interest to planters is however that Mr. Howard has 

 now again described the plant which he calls Ledyeriana and 

 has pointed out the characters which distinguish it, stating 

 at the same time that the plant described by him yields 

 7*12 p. c. of quinine. Those who have this plant in cultiva- 

 tiou should therefore look out for the form having leaves 

 with a velvety lustre and hairy margin. If analysis 

 confirms Mr. Howard's .statements, and the flowers are 

 found to produce hybrid seed, grafting must be resorted 

 to, in order to propagate the best varieties, as this process 



* What Blr. Howard seems to have state was not that 

 Ctdhaya verde and 7)torada were Ledgerianas, but that Mr. 

 Olu'isty had succesaed ia obtaining seeds of the Ledgeriana,. 



was stated by Col. Beddome to have given the best results in 

 the yield of "quinine. It must also be satisfactory to those 

 who have, through your recommendation, purchased si'Pfl of 

 Mr. Christy to know that some of the plants obtained from 

 this seed have been recognized by Mr. Howard as the true 

 C. Ledytriaiia and others as the real "Verde Calisaya." 



THE WARS OF THE QUINOr.OGIST.S. 



" De Cinnamomo DUpntatio" — the question whctlier 

 cinnamon is uidigenous to Ceylon which once troubled 

 the souls and exercised the pens of the German 

 savants — is likely to be eclipsed in energy and inter- 

 est by the Cinchona controversy, in which Howard, 

 Trimen and Moens tight a triangular duel. As is 

 usual in such cases, there are some elements of 

 human nature mixed up with the purely scientific 

 que.stions round which the contest rages. This will 

 be obvious on a perusal of the letter which Mr. 

 Howard addressed to the correspondent of a con- 

 temporary in reply to a request for the real purport 

 and object of his paper. This we quote : — 



" My review of the whole subject is briefly as fol- 

 lows :— Dr. Trimen and Mr. Moens — wishing to des- 

 cribe (as a new species) the very same Lcd<ieriana trees 

 of which I had given decriiJ"onB and analyies of the 

 bark, with plates drawn and colored by our moat 

 able artist, and which I had thus publinhed as a 

 variety of cinchona calisaya, — took for typical speci- 

 men of the same a tree found in Ceylon, derived 

 apparently from seed given by Mr. Mclvor, of un- 

 certain origin. I think it will be evident to any bot- 

 anist comparing the plates and descriptions that they 

 differ very widely, and on Mr. Moens' own author- 

 ity I claim that mine alone are aathenfic. I believe 

 the tree figured as C. Ledgeriana, Moens, proved to be 

 no calisaya at all but either a true species slanding 

 intermediate betwi"en calisaya and micrantha, or a 

 mere variety of micrantha. Comparison of plants mani- 

 fest this still more closely, and also shews the very 

 close resemblance between the Ledgeriana and the 

 morada and vej-de varieties of calisaya, all perhaps 

 standing under the var. microcarpa of Weddell. The 

 real ledgeriana ia not the verde, nor the morada, but 

 that which is known in its native habitat as the rojo, 

 or red. from the leaves turning a bright red (under 

 circumstances), as noticed by Mr. Ledger, in Bolivia, 

 and by Mr. Christy and myself in our authentic plants. 

 The leaves of these seem to me more aensitivi-, both 

 to tlie influence of light and temperature, than the 

 others named. The rojo seems to be a more delicate 

 tree than the verde, and is (perhaps consequenllj ) not 

 found in patches, but isolated : neither has it as yet 

 been cultivated. I have noticed various points of 

 difference from the pseudo-Le.d'jeriana oiTrixnGU, which 

 would no doubt, in part disappear, through the rough 

 influence of climate and weather , but the glorious 

 calisaya of the Bolivian forest cannot permanently be 

 confounded with the micranlhoid variety with which 

 it has been 3iippo.>^ed identical. Tlie bark alone, as 

 noticed by Mr. Vau Gorkoni, is a suthcient distinction. " 



It is quite true that Mr. Howard in his magnificen 

 work, "The Quinology of the East Indian Plantations, 

 figured and described CaliMiya Lede/eriana, var 

 Howard, from specimens received from Mr. Moens 

 Mr. Howai-d, with his life-long experience of and in- 

 vestigations into the multitudinous species and varieties 

 of tlie cinchonas, regarded C. Ledfjeriaaa as a very 

 rich and valuable variety, but still only one of the 

 many varieties into which the species Calisai/a sub- 

 divided itself. If. therefore, without overwhelming 

 evidence of true structural and botanical differences, 

 to justify their procedure, Mr. Moens and Dr. Trimen 



