A rare and decorative exotic botanical print of a Cinnamon Tree, labeled in Latin, Malayalam, Arabic, and Sanskrit. The twelve volume Hortus Malabaricus (Garden of Malabar) was published between 1678 and 1703 as a result of collaboration between the former governor of Malabar, local Ayuverdic doctors, physicians, botanists, translators and artisans from India and the Netherlands. It is the first comprehensive record of the plant wealth of India and the medicinal uses of those plants.

Cinnamomum verum, called true cinnamon tree or Ceylon cinnamon tree, is a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka. Although the inner bark of several other Cinnamomum species is also used to make cinnamon, cinnamon from C. verum is considered by culinarians to be of superior quality.

The trees grow as leafy bushes, usually maxing out about 3 meters (10 ft) in height. They are first harvested at 3 years old, and continue producing well for 40-50 years. Small side branches (1.5-5 cm in diameter) are removed from the trees. The outer bark is removed, and made into mulch. Twigs, leaves & berries (seeds) are crushed and make cinnamon oil, a less valuable byproduct. The inner bark of the branches is loosened by being rubbed with a brass rod, then split with a brass or stainless steel knife, and then peeled off, as intact as possible. Long, full 'quills' of cinnamon are more valuable than broken pieces. These quills are then dried over several days, in the shade, then in darkness. All this work is done by hand by experienced workers; this is the most expensive part of producing cinnamon spice. Finally, the dried bark is cut into sticks or ground into powder for sale to consumers.

The publication of the twelve volumes of Hortus Malabaricus (Garden of Malabar)  is believed to be the earliest comprehensive published work on the flora of Asia and the tropics. The volumes were published between 1678 and 1703 and was a product of the collaboration of the former governor of Malabar, Hendrik van Rheede, and a large number of Ayuverdic doctors, physicians, professors of medicine and botany, translators and artisans from India and the Netherlands. Originally written in Latin, the approximately 700 copper plate engravings include the names of the plants in four languages (Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Malayalam).  

It is of great importance today as a rare record of the plant wealth of Kerala (India) and medicinal uses of those plants. Unlike many 17th century documents, the local contributors of this knowledge – the vaidyas (“healers”) Itty Achudan, Ranga Bhat, Appu Bhat, Vinayaka Pandit – do not remain unnamed, but instead have contributed sworn and signed statements of their collaboration. Indeed the ethno-medical information presented in this work was extracted from the palm leaf manuscripts of Achudan.

During the 16th century, the quality of the serious study of plants in Europe was given a huge impetus by Lucca Ghini’s invention of the ‘herbarium method’: the pressing of plants between two sheets of paper so that they could be preserved in dry form. Carolus Clusius, botanists and prefect of the Leiden Hortus botanicus, recognised the opportunity presented by the formation of the Dutch East Indies company (VOC) and recent advances in the preservations of plants to expand the plant collection of the Hortus and existing knowledge of the plant world. Apart from Clusius’ early influence, the VOC also had it in their interest to care for the health of their employees in the tropics. Recognizing the value of indigenous medicinal plants for the treatment of tropical diseases, more efforts were placed on collecting and documenting such information.

Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein (1636-1691) was botanist, naturalist, and a colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. He also served as the governor of Dutch Malabar between 1669 and 1676. He employed 25 people to create the work and described 740 plants of the region.

Text on plate: Carua. Lat
Ceylon Cinnamon or Cinnamomum Zeylanicum

Hand Colored copperplate engraving, cleaned and layed on Japanese paper for long term protection.