Jnmiai'v 7, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Kino Producing Trees. 
At pa"© 141 of The Gardening World for February 14th, 
1903 in some notes on the Garcinias, we drew attention to the 
very important article of commerce known as gamboge, and 
remarked on the fact that the substance was distinct from any 
other produced in the vegetable kingdom. 
There are, however, many other substances yielded by plants 
that are equally interesting in the manner of their formation 
and the position they occupy in the world of commerce 
Though gamboge is a pigment, it is properly classified as a 
resinous product soluble in water, but there are many other 
rosins that contain colouring matter that are not soluble either 
in water or alcohol, and others that, are only partially so in one 
or other media. The principal products in this class are those 
known as kinos, the sources of which are not confined to any 
particular group of plants, but are produced by 
members of very widely different natural orders. As 
many interesting facts are connected with these, and 
as the plants themselves are peculiar, and many of 
them are not unknown in The Gardening World, 
1 have thought a few notes might be of interest to 
the readers of our journal. •> 
In all the Kinos the resinoid inspissated juices are 
of a- bright red colour when freshly exuded, becom¬ 
ing darker as they solidify in drying. Their pro¬ 
perties are always astringent, but are more power¬ 
fully so in some plants than in others. 
The principal source of commercial kino and the 
best quality is that obtained from Pterocarpus Mar- 
supium (see illustration), a large forest tree of 
Southern and Central India, where, at. one time, it 
was common, but in consequence of its having been 
cut down iii great numbers it is now somewhat rare. 
The product of this tree, which belongs to the 
papilionaceous section of the Leguminosae, is^tnown 
in commerce as Malabar or East Indian kino, and is 
extracted in the following manner: A perpendicular 
incision with lateral ones leading into it is made 
through the bark, and from these the red juice Hows 
into a vessel placed below to receive it. By expo¬ 
sure to the sun and air it soon hardens and is packed 
in wooden boxes for the purpose of exportation, the 
quantity of which is never very large. As seen 
in commerce, kino is in small, glistening reddish- 
black or ruby-red fragments. It has no smell, but 
has an astringent taste, colouring the saliva a blood- 
red colour. It is partially soluble in cold water, 
much more readily so in boiling water, and almost 
entirely so in alcohol.. In medicine it is used in 
diarrhoea and in gargles for relaxed throats, and also 
as an outward application to ideers. On account of 
its deep red colour and the roughness it imparts to 
the palate, it is said to be used for colouring port 
wine. If it were not that kino always fetches a high 
price, in consequence cf the comparatively small 
quantity produced, it would probably become more 
generally used than it is in dyeing. An allied species 
of Pterocarpus, P. erinaceus, a tree of Tropical Africa, fur¬ 
nishes a similar gum known as African or Gambia kino, but 
its value is considerably less than that produced by the Indian 
species. 
Another leguminous tree, also a native of India, and belong¬ 
ing to the same division of the order Papilionacea, produces 
Bengal kino. It is the Butea frondosa of Roxb. It is one of 
the most beautiful trees of the plains and lower hills, and is 
very widely distributed throughout India and Burma. The 
following description of the tree when in flower will give some 
idea of its beauty : “ A waving, well wooded country, yet thick 
with bright scarlet flowering Apple trees, gives some idea of 
many a landscape when the Khakhra is in bloom. In habit 
of growth it is not unlike the Apple tree, and the leaves drop¬ 
ping when the flowers come, the top and outer branches stand 
out like sprays of unbroken scarlet. In the bud the dark olive 
The gum or kino exudes either naturally or by sni.dl inci¬ 
sions made in tlie bark, forming globules or tean about the 
size of a pea, of a similar colour and taste to the Pferoeai pus 
kino, darkening with age. It is used in native medicine ;i~ 
well as for tanning. We may mention incidentally that kino 
is not by any means the only product of the Butea. The 
brilliant and abundant flowers, which are known as Tes-n 
flowers, furnish a bright yellow dye; the seeds are used as an 
anthelmintic, and a strong but coarse fibre is obtained from tin 
bark, and finally, the tree yields a quantity of lac. 
Of a somewhat similar character to true or Malabar kino 
is the gum that is often found secreted in tlie barks of several 
species of Eucalyptus, and even sometimes deposited in quan¬ 
tities in cracks and fissures in the wood. The product is known 
Flowering and Fruiting Branch of the Malabar Kino Tree. 
(Pterocarpus Marsupium.) 
as Australian kino, and much of it is furnished by Eucalyptus 
amygdalina. 
A gum resin approaching in character the true kinos is found 
deposited on the outside of the scaly fruits of several species 
of Calamus, notably those of C. Draco. It is, however, com¬ 
mercially known as Dragon’s Blood, from its intense red colour. 
To obtain the resin, the fruits, after collecting, are placed in 
a bag or sack, and violently shaken, by which means the resin¬ 
ous coating is removed in the form of powder, which is melted 
and formed into large circular, flattened cakes, in which form 
it chiefly arrives fn this country from Sumatra and Borneo. 
Its use is chiefly for colouring varnish and staining wood¬ 
work. 
On the stems of some of the peculiar plants known in Aus¬ 
tralia as Grass Gum trees and belonging to the genus Xanthoi - 
rhoea, is deposited naturally a thick coating of a gum resin 
