Cinchona plant considered extinct found in Sri Lanka after 150 years

• The plant was originally introduced by the British in 1861 as a cash crop
• Environmentalist believes that there could be several plants of this  species in the central hills

Plant used to process Quinine, the most effective medicine for Malaria  

By Shantha Chandrasiri   

Several well-grown cinchona plants belonging to a plant  species considered extinct in Sri Lanka have been found after 150  years in Unanagala in the western slopes of Aliyagala Mountain Range in  Ambagamuwa.  

Environmentalist Laxman Kumara said a team of researchers, including himself, found the Cinchona plants in the Aliyagala Mountain Range.    

He said the British had cultivated Cinchona in Haggala Botanical Gardens and its environs in 1861 as a cash crop and abandoned it in a short time. It belonged to a plant species extinct in Sri Lanka, leaving only one plant conserved at Haggala Botanical Gardens. However, the environmentalist believes that there could be several plants of this  species in the central hills.   

He said the research team had found six luxurious plants in Unanagala hills, about 742 metres above the mean sea level.   

The environmentalist said Cinchona was a medicinal plant used to process Quinine, the most effective medicine for Malaria.  

He said it was a pleasure to find few well-grown Cinchona  plants that belong to a plant species threatened with extinction due  to the invasion of secondary forests generated after the human-caused  destruction of primary forests.  

It is native to the Andes in South America, especially in  countries like Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia. The bark of  cinchona trees contains quinine, an alkaloid used for centuries as an  antimalarial drug. Quinine was one of the earliest effective treatments  for malaria.