Cinchona

[mustafiz]

Cinchona  name for any evergreen shrub or tree of the genus Cinchona, of the family Rubiaceae, closely related to coffee, and native to the Andean highlands from Bolivia to Colombia. The genus has 38 species with opposite leaves and pink or whitish, and sometimes fragrant flowers in clusters. Cinchona is the source of quinine, a substance for curing malarial and some other types of fever. It also contains other alkaloids which individually or as a mixture called totaquina are of considerable value in medicine.