Cinchona Cinchona Cinchona is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. They are native to the tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are reportedly naturalized in Central America, Jamaica, French Polynesia, Sulawesi, Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, and São Tomé and Príncipe off the coast of tropical Africa. Several species were sought after for their medicinal value and cultivated in India and Java where they also formed hybrids. The barks of several species yield quinine and other alkaloids that were the only effective treatments against
Tree of the Virgin Tree of the Virgin The Tree of the Virgin is a sycamore tree in the El Matareya suburb of Cairo, Egypt. According to local beliefs, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph stopped at El Matareya (then a small village) on the Flight into Egypt. Mary rested against the tree and a spring of water sprang up near it for Mary to wash Jesus. For many years its bark was taken by Christians in the belief that it had miraculous properties. It has been a place of pilgrimage for Coptic Christians for many centuries, who come to pray by it or