Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Quinine bush

(Alstonia mollis)

galery
en

Description

Alstonia constricta, commonly known as quinine bush or bitterbark, is an endemic Australian endemic shrub or small tree of the family Apocynaceae. Alstonia constricta has an erect growth form. Growing to 12 m in height. The species is capable of producing adventitious shoots or ‘suckers’ from the root system and in this manner often forms thickets. Leaves are pubescent, narrow and lanceolate, from 5–20 cm in length. Flowers are white to cream, 2– 4 cm across. The bark has a corky textured and develops a grooved appearance in older plants. Alstonia constricta produces a white latex, and contains several alkaloids, several of which have medicinal potential, including reserpine. Alstonia constricta is the only subtropical member of the genus, and occurs in Eastern Australia from the Tropic of Capricorn southward to northern New South Wales. The species occurs in Eucalypt and Acacia woodlands, vine scrubs and gallery forests from humid coastal regions through to the semi-arid and arid inland. The field botanist Anders Bofeldt discovered an isolated population in the Shoalhaven River Gorge in southern New South Wales. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that its "yellowish-brown, often thick and deeply fissured bark, is intensely bitter, and possesses valuable febrifugal and tonic properties. It is regularly quoted in London drug lists. A decoction is sometimes sold in the colonies as "bitters." Mr. Christy states that it is used by some English brewers of pale ale for export, as it produces neither headaches nor other ill effects of hops. It tastes remarkably like Cinchona bark, and seems to partake somewhat of the properties of both quinine and nux vomica. This drug is undoubtedly worthy of careful experiments by medical men.The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that its "yellowish-brown, often thick and deeply fissured bark, is intensely bitter, and possesses valuable febrifugal and tonic properties. It is regularly quoted in London drug lists. A decoction is sometimes sold in the colonies as "bitters." Mr. Christy states that it is used by some English brewers of pale ale for export, as it produces neither headaches nor other ill effects of hops. It tastes remarkably like Cinchona bark, and seems to partake somewhat of the properties of both quinine and nux vomica. This drug is undoubtedly worthy of careful experiments by medical men.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Gentianales
Family:Apocynaceae
Genus:Alstonia
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