Ledgerbark
StarCinchona calisaya
Synonyms: Cinchona weddelliana var. rubrifolia, Cinchona scrobiculata var. delondriana, Cinchona delondriana, Cinchona calisaya var. boliviana, Cinchona gammiana, Cinchona gironensis, Cinchona weddelliana var. rubrivenata, Cinchona calisaya var. oblongifolia, Cinchona weddelliana var. multiscrobiculata, Cinchona weddelliana var. angustifolia, Cinchona officinalis var. josephiana, Cinchona weddelliana, Quinquina ledgeriana, Cinchona thwaitesii, Cinchona calisaya var. josephiana, Cinchona pahudiana, Cinchona forbesiana, Cinchona calisaya var. vera, Cinchona amygdalifolia, Quinquina carabayensis var. villosa, Cinchona peruviana var. vera, Cinchona australis, Cinchona carabayensis, Cinchona calisaya var. ledgeriana, Cinchona calisaya var. microcarpa, Cinchona ledgeriana, Cinchona hasskarliana, Cinchona euneura, Cinchona josephiana, Cinchona carabayensis var. lanceolata, Quinquina carabayensis, Quinquina calisaya
Western Herbalism Properties
Traditional Uses
The bitter bark of Cinchona (Peruvian bark, cinchona bark) is one of the foundational drugs of Western materia medica: long employed as a bitter tonic and astringent and, as the source of quinine, as the original treatment for malarial fevers. Among the Cherokee, an infusion was used as a reproductive aid for impotence and the bark was used to make a tonic (Hamel & Chiltoskey, 1975). The species is native to the Andes of South America, where the bark was harvested and later cultivated on a vast scale for the extraction of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, giving it an important place in both indigenous Andean and global pharmaceutical history.
Botanical Description
Cinchona calisaya, the calisaya or ledgerbark tree, is an evergreen tree or large shrub of the family Rubiaceae, native to the eastern Andean slopes of South America (Bolivia, Peru and adjacent regions) where it grows in humid montane forest. It reaches up to about 10 to 25 metres, with reddish-brown bark and a rounded crown. The leaves are opposite, large, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, glossy and entire, often with reddish veins or petioles, and bear small pit-like domatia in the vein axils beneath. The fragrant flowers are borne in terminal panicles and are tubular, pink to rose, with the corolla lobes fringed with white hairs at the margins. The fruit is a small dry capsule splitting from the base to release numerous winged seeds. The bark is intensely bitter and is the principal commercial source of the alkaloids quinine and cinchonine; the species was widely cultivated in plantations (notably the high-yielding Ledger strain) for quinine production.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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