cinchona

cin·cho·na   (sĭng-kō'nə, sĭn-chō'-)    n.   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. The dried bark of any of these plants. Also called Jesuit's bark, Peruvian bark. [New Latin Cinchona, genus name, reputedly after Francisca Henríquez de Ribera (1576-1639), Countess of Chinchón.] cin·chon'ic (sĭng-kŏn'ĭk, sĭn-chŏn'-) adj.

Main Entry: cin·cho·na
Pronunciation: si[ng]-'kO-n&, sin-'chO-
Function: noun
1 capitalized : a large genus of trees ofthe madder family native to the Andean region of northwestern So. America and now extensively cultivated both there and in Indonesia
2 : a tree of the genus Cinchona
3 : the dried bark of any of several trees of the genus Cinchona (especially C. ledgeriana and C. succirubra or their hybrids) containing alkaloids (as quinine,cinchonine, quinidine, and cinchonidine) and being used especially formerly as a specific in malaria, an antipyretic in other fevers, and a tonic and stomachic called also cinchona bark,Jesuits' bark, Peruvian bark
Chináchón /chin-'chOn,/ Countess of (Doña Francisca Henriquez de Ribera), vicereine. According to a legend firstgiven out in 1663 and supposedly based on a now-lost letter, Countess Chinchón, the wife of the viceroy of Peru, fell ill with malaria. The governor of a neighboring province quickly provided aremedy in the form of a certain tree bark. The countess experienced a seemingly miraculous recovery, and word of the bark's extraordinary powers quickly spread. The name of the countess henceforthbecame associated with the bark. While the story is apocryphal, Linnaeus perpetuated the name of the countess, albeit in misspelled form, by designating the genus of that tree Cinchona in herhonor.

cinchona cin·cho·na (sĭng-kō'nə, sĭn-chō'-)
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.

2. The dried bark of any of these plants.