cinchona

cin·cho·na  (sng-kn, sn-ch-)

n.

1. Any of several trees and shrubs of the genus Cinchona, native chiefly to the Andes and cultivated for bark that yields the medicinal alkaloids quinine and quinidine, which are used to treat malaria.

2. The dried bark of any of these plants. Also called Jesuit's bark, Peruvian bark.

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[New Latin Cinchona, genus name, reputedly after Francisca Henríquez de Ribera (1576-1639), Countess of Chinchón.]

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cin·chonic (sng-knk, sn-chn-) adj.

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cinchona [sing-kone-a]

Noun

1. a South American tree or shrub with medicinal bark

2. its dried bark which yields quinine

3. a drug made from cinchona bark [after the Countess of Chinchón]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	cinchona - medicinal bark of cinchona trees; source of quinine and quinidine cinchona bark, Jesuit's bark, Peruvian bark chinchona, cinchona - any of several trees of the genus Cinchona bark - tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
	2.	cinchona - any of several trees of the genus Cinchona chinchona genus Chinchona, genus Cinchona - large genus of trees of Andean region of South America having medicinal bark Cartagena bark, Cinchona cordifolia, Cinchona lancifolia - Colombian tree; source of Cartagena bark (a cinchona bark) calisaya, Cinchona calisaya, Cinchona ledgeriana, Cinchona officinalis - Peruvian shrub or small tree having large glossy leaves and cymes of fragrant yellow to green or red flowers; cultivated for its medicinal bark Cinchona pubescens, cinchona tree - small tree of Ecuador and Peru having very large glossy leaves and large panicles of fragrant pink flowers; cultivated for its medicinal bark cinchona, cinchona bark, Jesuit's bark, Peruvian bark - medicinal bark of cinchona trees; source of quinine and quinidine tree - a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms