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
Cinchona knighted. For the role in establishing cinchona in Indonesia, Hasskarl was knighted with the Dutch order of the Lion. "Cinchona" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the engrailed, the commander, and members of the genus "Endoclita", including "E. damor", "E. purpurescens" and "E. sericeus". "Cinchona pubescens" has grown uncontrolled on some islands such as the Galapagos where it has posed the risk of outcompeting native plant species. In herbalism, cinchona bark was used as an adulterant in Jesuit's bark or Peruvian bark which originally is thought to have referred to "Myroxylon peruiferum",