Cinchona pubescens hence its nickname the red quinine tree. Its flowers form in large panicles. They are pink and fragrant, while in the Galapagos they are light pink. "C. pubescens" has the widest distribution of all "Cinchona" species, with the native range spanning Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. In Ecuador it is distributed within an altitude from . It also grows well in volcanic soil with high nutrient levels. C. pubescens is a resilient species that is able to recover from even extreme damage. If the tree is felled but the stump is left, it can grow back
Bark bread bark is the only part of a tree trunk that is actually edible, the remaining bark and wood is made up of cellulose which animals, including humans, cannot digest. The dried and ground inner bark was added in proportions like 1/4th to 1/3rd "bark flour" to the remaining grain flour. Erik Pontoppidan, the Bishop of Bergen, Norway, in the mid 18th century, recommended using elm, as it helped the often crumbly bark bread hold together better. The bark will, however, add a rather bitter taste to the bread, and give particularly white bread an unappetizing grey-green hue. Another problem is