cinchona tree

8.9

A small South American tree with shiny leaves and pink flowers whose bark gives quinine

noun
/sɪnˈkoʊnə tri/

: árbol de cinchona

Powdered bark from the cinchona tree, found only on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, contained alkaloids that checked malaria.
bark of the cinchona tree

Examples

Botanists are working to conserve endangered cinchona trees in South America.
The cinchona tree produces fragrant pink flowers and striking glossy leaves.
The bark of the cinchona tree is famous as a natural source of quinine.
The cinchona tree is essential for producing quinine.
Many cinchona trees grow in the Amazon rainforest.
The bark of the cinchona tree was used 400 years ago to reduce fever.
Quinine, extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, was used as an antimalarial agent as early as 1632.

Synonyms

Cinchona pubescens

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A small tree that has shiny leaves, pink flowers, and bark people use to treat malaria

is the general name for similar trees rather than that one species

Cinchona officinalis

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.4

A South American tree whose bark contains quinine that treats malaria

is the naturally occurring small tree native to Ecuador and Peru

Cinchona ledgeriana

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A shrub or small tree from Peru with shiny leaves and scented flowers, grown for its bark used in medicine

is the wild native small tree known specifically for bark that yields quinine

Cinchona calisaya

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A South American bush or small tree with shiny leaves, grown for bark used to make the medicine quinine

is the small native tree known for pink scented flowers and medicinal bark

Cinchona cordifolia

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A tree from Colombia whose bark is used for medicine

is native to Ecuador and Peru rather than Colombia and has fragrant pink flowers

Cinchona lancifolia

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A Colombian tree with bark used to make medicine for malaria

is native to Ecuador and Peru rather than Colombia and bears pink fragrant flowers

chinchona

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A South American tree whose bark gives a medicine for malaria

is the specific small native tree from Ecuador and Peru with pink flowers

genus Cinchona

vscinchona tree

Specialized

9.9

A group of South American trees whose bark gives quinine, a medicine for malaria

is one particular small native tree from Ecuador and Peru rather than the whole genus

Surface Forms

cinchona tree singular

cinchona trees plural

Morphology

cinchona + tree

The phrase is a straightforward noun-noun combination of a species name plus the general noun 'tree' so its meaning ('a tree of the cinchona genus') is directly derivable from knowing 'cinchona' and 'tree'. This compositional botanical naming pattern is cross-linguistically common and contains no idiomatic or metaphorical sense, so a learner who knows both constituents will understand it.

Etymology

Cinchona tree may come from a story about a Spanish countess from Chinchón who, long ago, was healed by the tree's bark. Because that bark makes a strong medicine called quinine that fights 'fever' and 'malaria', people remembered the tree by that name.