Vincristine's origins are debated as an example of pharmaceutical bioprospecting in the fields of ethnobotany and ethnomedicine. Some consider the "catharanthus roseus" plant from which vincristine is derived, and its folk remedies to be endemic to Madagascar, and that Madagascar was denied royalties from vincristine sales. However, "catharanthus roseus" has a documented history in folk medicine treatments in other locations. In 1963, Lilly researchers acknowledged that the plant was used in Brazil to treat hemorrhage, scurvy, toothaches, and chronic wounds; in the British West Indies to treat diabetic ulcers; and in the Philippines and South Africa as a oral hypoglycemic agent – but not as a treatment for cancer.