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.
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.
The discovery of quinine is considered the most serendipitous medical discovery of the 17th century [1] and malaria treatment with quinine marked the first successful use of a chemical compound to treat an infectious disease[2]. Quinine, as a component of the bark of the cinchona (quina-quina) tree, was used to treat malaria from as early as the 1600s, when it was referred to as the "Jesuits' bark," "cardinal's bark," or "sacred bark." These names stem from its use in 1630 by Jesuit missionaries in South America, though a legend suggests earlier use by the native population