Cultivation  of  Buchu. 
[  Am.  Jour.  Phsrm. 
August,  1 918. 
CULTIVATION  OF  BUCHU  PLANT  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.1 
Vice  Consul  Samuel  W.  Honaker,  Johannesburg. 
Although  the  buchu  plant  is  said  to  be  indigenous  to  South 
Africa  its  culture  has  been  neglected  in  recent  years.  However,  as 
late  as  1908,  243,742  pounds  of  leaves  were  exported.  The  high 
price  now  prevailing  is  again  stimulating  interest  in  this  plant  to 
some  extent,  as  the  importance  of  meeting  the  demand  is  fully 
realized. 
Probably  one  of  the  most  accurate  accounts  of  the  cultivation  of 
the  buchu  plant  in  South  Africa  is  that  by  Mr.  G.  R.  Van  Wielligh, 
who,  in  the  Agricultural  Journal  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  for 
July,  1 91 3,  said  in  part: 
The  buchu  is  a  hardy  perennial  and  evergreen  shrub  belonging 
to  the  rue  family  of  plants.  The  leaves  of  the  buchu,  to  which  the 
value  of  the  plant  is  due,  are  opposite  or  scattered  and  are  flat  and 
dotted  with  oil  glands,  and  the  margins  are  glandular,  serrate,  or, 
in  some  cases,  almost  entirely  revolute.  When  touched  or  dry  the 
leaves  emit  a  strong  aromatic  odor,  which  is  due  to  a  volatile  oil 
contained  in  the  glands.  This  oil  is  greenish  in  color  when  pressed 
out  of  the  cells  and  when  left  to  dry  upon  the  leaves  forms  a  cam- 
phor-like substance. 
Three  Species  Used  for  Medicinal  Purposes. — There  are 
three  species  of  the  plant  used  in  medicine.  While  containing  the 
same  essential  oil  and  camphor,  they  differ  in  the  shape,  appearance, 
and  color  of  the  leaves. 
The  kloof  buchu.  (Barosma  serratifolia)  grows  in  a  soil  some- 
what moist,  but  not  wet.  Its  average  height  is  4  feet,  but  it  some- 
times grows  as  high  as  10  feet.  It  thrives  in  kloofs  (ravines;, 
among  shrubs  and  granite  rocks  and  in  the  shade  of  trees,  and  is 
also  to  be  found  in  altitudes  varying  from  500  to  1,000  feet  above 
sea  level.  A  black,  sandy  loam,  containing  plenty  of  decayed  vege- 
table matter,  is  said  to  be  favorable  to  its  growth.  The  leaves  of 
this  species  are  dark  green,  resembling  somewhat  those  of  the  orange 
tree,  to  which  it  is  also  similar,  in  that  glands  are  shown  in  the 
lamina  of  the  leaves. 
Another  species,  the  mountain  buchu  {Barosma  betulina),  is 
1  From  Commerce  Reports,  Tune  11,  1918. 
