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Ipecacuanha, but the exact form of the plant under cultivation and the 
particular district in which it is grown are not stated in text books. 
Some of the Johor root was examined by Mr. F. Ransom and reported 
to be practically as rich in alkaloid as that received from Brazil, 
As the attempts to grow Ipecacuanha in India and elsewhere on a 
commercial scale failed it became a point of some interest to determine 
the particular form or variety of the plant that succeeded so well 
in the Straits Settlements.” Specimens of the plant were received 
by Mr. Holmes from Mr. Wray and Mr. Pfenning werth. Mr. Holmes 
goes on to point out that two forms of the plant were known in 1871 
when Prof. J. M. Balfour in an article read before the Botanical 
Society of Edinburgh described them as cultivated in Edinburgh 
Botanic Gardens. One, originally sent hy Mr. Maekay of Liege 
to Sir W. Hooker, had a shrubby stem, firm leaves not undulate 
at the edge, with a short style. The other sent from Eio de Janeiro, 
was herbaceous, with thinner leaves undulated and fringed with hairs. 
The flowers were not seen but were probably long styled. The Selangor 
plant has firm leaves, oblong lanceolate (rather than oval as in 
Maekay 's plant) slightly scabrous, and the stamens and style equal in 
length. This plant is therefore distinct from either of the other two. 
The plants formerly cultivated in the Singapore gardens and obtained 
from Kew were certainly herbaceous. Ipecacuanha seems to have 
been first introduced to the Straits Settlements by Murton in 1875. 
The plants were brought from Ceylon. But whether the Selangor, 
or called as they were at first, the Johor plants, were derived from 
these or obtained elsewhere I cannot say. 
“Mr. Pfenning werth states that the cultivation is very slow work. 
The plant seems to grow well but does not produce root in abundance. 
The first crop off fresh soil is a fairly good one but on trying to raise a 
second, it invariably turns out very poor, although all kinds of manure 
have been tried to enrich the land but without apparently restoring 
to the soil the necessary ingredients for luxuriant growth,” He then 
quotes from Mr. Macnab, as to the growth of the plant. ‘‘ The stem is 
of slow growth and although cuttings root freely in five or six weeks 
when inserted in white sand kept somewhat moist, very few cuttings 
are obtainable so that propagation from sections of the rhizome even if 
only one sixteenth of an inch thick give the best results. These can 
be readily propagated if placed in a horizontal position over the surface 
of a pot prepared with drainage and white sand and kept moist and placed 
m a warm propagating bed under a hand glass. In a few weeks the 
root cuttings begin to swell, and show signs of budding chiefly on the 
upper edge of the cut surface. These leaf buds are first nourished by 
the sap m the cut rhizome but as they begin to elongate some filmy 
roots are protruded from the under surface. When this is the case 
e root sections may be cut into as many pieces as there are buds 
anc each potted separately in open free fibrous soil with a slight mix- 
ure o sand In Brazil the Poayero or collector of Ipecacuanha root 
\\ len ie pulls up the roots breaks them at certain points leaving suffi- 
° i 1 16 rlllzome fco produce young plants and fills the 
s whence the plants have been pulled, so that in 3 or 4 years, the 
plants may recover their growth. The plant flowers in February and 
