Cinchona pubescens is known for its bark's high quinine content- and has similar uses to Cinchona officinalis in the production of quinine, most famously used for treatment of malaria (Kinyuy et al. 1993). Its native range spans Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. In Ecuador, C. pubescens is distributed within an altitude from 300 to 3900 m and has the widest distribution of all Cinchona species (Acosta-Solis 1945; Missouri Botanica...
more
Cinchona pubescens is known for its bark's high quinine content- and has similar uses to Cinchona officinalis in the production of quinine, most famously used for treatment of malaria (Kinyuy et al. 1993). Its native range spans Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. In Ecuador, C. pubescens is distributed within an altitude from 300 to 3900 m and has the widest distribution of all Cinchona species (Acosta-Solis 1945; Missouri Botanical Garden specimen database 2002) Its distribution is at well documented by the Missouri Botanic Garden's Nomenclatural Data Base w3TROPICOS.
Planted outside of its native range on tropical islands it has become an invasive species . In Galapagos it has become a dominant species in the formerly shrub dominated Miconia and Fern-Sedge zones (sensu Wiggins and Porter 1971) on Santa Cruz Island (Buddenhagen & Yánez 2005; Buddenhagen et al. 2004; Jäger 1999; Kastdalen 1982; Lawesson 1990; Macdonald et al. 1988; Mauchamp 1997; Tye 2000; and see more...
less