Bark (botany) rope, used for example in the rigging of Viking age longships. Among the commercial products made from bark are cork, cinnamon, quinine (from the bark of Cinchona) and aspirin (from the bark of willow trees). The bark of some trees notably oak ("Quercus robur") is a source of tannic acid, which is used in tanning. Bark chips generated as a by-product of lumber production are often used in bark mulch in western North America. Bark is important to the horticultural industry since in shredded form it is used for plants that do not thrive in ordinary soil, such as epiphytes.
Cinchona "plea for the correct spelling of the genus "Chinchona"". A Spanish physician, Juan Fragoso wrote of bark powder from an unknown tree in 1600 that was used for treating various ills. Nicolas Monardes also wrote of a New World bark powder used in Spain in 1574. Both identify the sources as trees that do not bear fruit and having heart-shaped leaves and it has been suggested that these references could be to "Cinchona" species. The name Quina-Quina or Quinquina was suggested as an old name for Cinchona used in Europe and based on the native name used by the Quechua