5. On the Fruiting of the Ipecacuan Plant (Cephaelis Ipecacuanha, Rich.) in the Royal Botanic Garden

Abstract

The cultivation of the Ipecacuan plant in this country has received an impetus from the demand on the part of his Grace the Duke of Argyll, for a large supply of fresh plants for India. The object of the India office is to cultivate the plant extensively, and thus prevent the evils which might arise from scarcity of a drug which is so important in the treatment of dysentery. The risk of such an occurrence is due to the mode in which the plant is gathered in Brazil, and the want of care in preserving it. A similar fate threatens Ipecacuan as that which has occurred in the case of Cinchona.