Biology:Cinchona officinalis
| Quinine bark | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Rubiaceae |
| Genus: | Cinchona |
| Species: | C. officinalis
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| Binomial name | |
| Cinchona officinalis | |
| Synonyms | |
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List
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Cinchona officinalis is a South American tree in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to wet montane forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, between 1600–2700 meters above sea level.[1]
Description
Cinchona officinalis is a shrub or tree with rugose bark and branchlets covered in minute hairs. Stipules lanceolate or oblong, acute or obtuse, glabrous. Leaves lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, usually about 10 centimetres (3.9 in). long and 3.5–4 centimetres (1.4–1.6 in). wide; acute, acuminate, or obtuse tip; base rounded to attenuate; coriaceous, glabrous above and often lustrous; glabrous beneath or puberulent or short-pilose, especially on the veins. Inflorescences in terminal panicles, many-flowered; hypanthium with short coarse hairs; reddish calyx, glabrous or nearly so, with triangular lobes; pink or red corolla, sericeous, the lobes ovate, acute, the corolla tube being about 1 cm. long. Fruit is an oblong capsule, 1.5–2 cm. long, almost glabrous.[1][2]
Vernacular names
English: quinine, red cinchona, cinchona bark, Jesuit’s bark, loxa bark, Jesuit’s powder, countess powder, Peruvian bark.[3][4]
Spanish: quina, cascarilla, cargua cargua, corteza coja.[3][5]
French: quinquina, écorce du Pérou.[6]
Uses
Cinchona officinalis is a medicinal plant, one of several Cinchona species used for the production of quinine, which is an anti-fever agent. It is especially useful in the prevention and treatment of malaria. Other alkaloids that are extracted from this tree include cinchonine, cinchonidine and quinidine.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Standley, Paul C. (1936). "Rubiaceae". in Macbride, J.F.. Flora of Peru. 13. Field Museum of Natural History. pp. 30–31.
- ↑ Standley, Paul C. (1931). "The Rubiaceae of Ecuador". Botanical Series (Field Museum of Natural History) VII (2): 197–198.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Duke, J.A. (2009). Duke's handbook of medicinal plants of Latin America. CRC Press. pp. 212–214. ISBN 978-1-42-004317-4.
- ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2012). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. CRC Press. pp. 951–952. ISBN 978-1-42-008044-5.
- ↑ Grandtner, M.M.; Chevrette, Julien (2013). Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press. pp. 133. ISBN 9780123969545.
- ↑ Honnorat, Simon-Jude (1847) (in fr). Dictionnaire Provençal-Français, ou Dictionnaire de la Langue d'Oc.. 2. Digne: Repos éditeur. p. 990.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q3091779 entry
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