Fever Tree 



841 



I. FEVER TREE 



GENUS PINCKNEYA MICHAUX 

 Species Pinckneya pubens Michaux 



HIS small tree, or more often a shrub, is also called Georgia bark, 

 Quinine bark, and Florida fever bark. It inhabits the wet borders of 

 swamps and streams in the coastal region of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Florida, where it is one of the rarest, as well as most elegant of 

 plants when in flower; it attains a maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk di- 

 ameter of 2.5 dm. 



The branches are mostly slender and spreading. The bark is 6 mm. thick, 

 scaly and hght brown. The twigs are round, thickly white-hairy, soon becoming 

 less hairy and red-brown. The decidu- 

 ous leaves are opposite, membranous, 

 oblong, ovate or oval, 0.5 to 2 dm. long, 

 sharp or abruptly taper-pointed at the 

 apex, tapering at the base, hairy when 

 young, becoming nearly smooth and 

 dark green above, paler and hairy along 

 the stout midrib beneath; the leaf-stalk 

 is stout, I to 2 cm. long, with glan- 

 dular early falling stipules. The large 

 hairy flowers, appearing in May or 

 June, are perfect, in terminal corym- 

 bose cymes, on stout, hairy, bracteolate 

 pedicels; the calyx-tube is inverted 

 cone-shaped, i cm. long, its lobes linear 

 to linear-lanceolate, i to 1.5 cm. long, 

 pinkish, deciduous, or some persisting 

 and becoming remarkably enlarged, 

 leaf-Uke and pink; the corolla is nar- 

 rowly tubular, 2 to 3 cm. long, its lobes 

 linear or oblong, blunt-pointed, reflexed, yellowish, marked with brown or purple; 

 "stamens 5, opposite the calyx-lobes, little exserted, fihform and free, their anthers 

 oblong, notched at the top and facing inward; ovary 2-celled; ovules numerous in 

 each cell; style filiform, exserted, with a 2-lobed stigmatic apex. The fruit is a 

 round, sHghtly 2-lobed, 2-cclled capsule about 2 cm. long, light brown, opening 

 longitudinally into 2 halves; the seeds are numerous, horizontal, flat, nearly orbic- 

 ular, thin-winged; cotyledons leaf-like. 



The wood is soft, weak, close-grained and brown; its specific gravity is about 

 0.53; the bark has been used as a remedy in fevers. It has been sparingly planted 



Fig. 764. Fever Tree. 



