Quina Quina

Rare engraving of the Quina plant, interestingly the original engraved plate had been lost and had to be re-engraved by the Society after correspondence by Hawkins with Joseph Banks confirmed its loss.

Cinchona, or quinine bark, is one of the rainforest’s most famous plants and most important discoveries. Legend has it that the name cinchona came from the countess of Chinchon, the wife of a Peruvian viceroy, who was cured of a malarial type of fever by using the bark of the cinchona tree in 1638. It was supposedly introduced to European medicine in 1640 by the countess of Chinchon, even before botanists had identified and named the species of tree. Quinine bark was first advertised for sale in England in 1658, and was made official in the British Pharmacopoeia in 1677. Physicians gave credit to the drug and, because of its effectiveness with malaria, it was recognized officially even while the identity of the tree species remained unknown. Several years after the “Countess’s powder” arrived in England, it arrived in Spain. There, quinine bark was used by the Jesuits very early in its history and due to the influence of the Company of Jesus, the newly named “Jesuit’s powder” became known all over Europe. When the plant was finally botanically classified almost one hundred years later in 1737.

Reference source; http://www.rain-tree.com/quinine.htm#.VimHRSvMzRY

Common names Quinine bark, quina, quinine, kinakina, China bark

Modern binomial name Cinchona officinalis

From Transactions of the Linnea Society London Volume 3, P59