English: Chinese Quinine
Region: east Asia, China, Japan, northern India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,
Habitat: shrubberies, damp places; in clearings of oak forests; 900 - 2400 metres.; subtropics and tropics; open loamy soil.
Content: alkaloids, febrifugine and isofebrifugine, effective in treating malaria, but toxic; alkaloid, changrolin, effective for arrhythmias induced by aconitine or ouabain.
Use: wood for fuel.
BotanyErect, evergreen shrub, growing 1 - 3 metres tall.
Flower: vary in colour according to the type of soil, best blue in very acid soils.