Cinchona lost their plants when a wave took them off their ship. The Dutch sent Justus Hasskarl who brought plants that were then cultivated in Java from 1854. The English explorer Clements Markham went to collect plants that were introduced in Sri Lanka and the Nilgiris of southern India in 1860. The main species introduced were "Cinchona succirubra" or red bark, as its sap turned red on contact with air, and "Cinchona calisaya". The alkaloids quinine and cinchonine were extracted by Pelletier and Caventou in 1820. Later two more key alkaloids, quinidine and cinchonidine were identified and it became a routine
Birch bark from live trees is harmful to tree health and should be avoided. Instead, it can be removed fairly easily from the trunk or branches of dead wood, by cutting a slit lengthwise through the bark and pulling or prying it away from the wood. The best time for collection is spring or early summer, as the bark is of better quality and most easily removed. Removing the outer (light) layer of bark from the trunk of a living tree may not kill it, but probably weakens it and makes it more prone to infections. Removal of the inner (dark) layer,