Quinine Trees

Cinchona (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All 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, and others have been cultivated in India and Java, where they have formed hybrids.

Cinchona has been historically sought after for its medicinal value, as the bark of several species yields quinine and other alkaloids. Trees in the genus are also known as fever trees because of their antimalarial properties. These were the only effective treatments against malaria during the height of European colonialism, which made them of great economic and political importance. Europeans appropriated indigenous peoples' contributions to medicinal knowledge about cinchona, omitting them from scientific accounts. Mass production of quinine from cinchona funneled wealth to Europe and enforced colonial power dynamics in South America.