Quina (Quinine Tree)

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📸 Photo Gallery

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Taxonomy & Classification

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Physical & Botanical Description

Growth Form:

• Evergreen highland tree, typically 6-10 m tall with a rounded crown.
• Bark gray-brown on the outside; inner bark turns reddish and is intensely bitter due to alkaloids.

Leaves:

• Opposite, simple, leathery leaves, usually 7-20 cm long.
• Elliptic to oblong shape with soft hairs on the underside ("pubescent").

Flowers:

• Pink, star-shaped flowers in large terminal clusters.
• Fragrant and attractive to insects.

Fruit & Seeds:

• Dry capsule that splits to release many wind-dispersed seeds.
• Seed release is a key strategy for colonizing disturbed slopes.

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Geographic Distribution

Native Range

Quina is native to the northern Andes and parts of Central America, including Costa Rica.

Introduced & Cultivated Range

• Widely introduced to tropical regions for quinine production.
• Naturalized in some islands (notably the Galapagos), where it can be invasive.
• Cultivated in parts of East Africa and Southeast Asia for medicinal bark.

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Habitat & Ecology

• Cloud-forest specialist thriving in cool, humid montane climates.
• Prefers misty slopes with steady rainfall and well-drained volcanic soils.
• Flowers attract a range of pollinating insects.
• Seeds are light and wind-dispersed, aiding rapid colonization after disturbances.
• Outside its native range, it can naturalize aggressively, forming dense stands that shade out native understory plants.

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Uses & Applications

Medicinal Bark

The bark is a historical source of quinine, a compound that became the first effective treatment for malaria. Extracts are powerful and must be used with caution due to toxicity at high doses.

Culinary & Beverage Uses

Quinine's bitter flavor is the signature taste of tonic water and some bitters.

Ornamental & Educational Plantings

Because of its attractive flowers and historic importance, quina is sometimes planted in botanical gardens and educational forests.

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Cultural & Historical Significance

• Andean Indigenous knowledge identified quinine bark as a fever remedy long before it entered European medicine.
• The genus name honors the Countess of Chinchon, associated with the early spread of quinine to Europe.
• National tree of Peru and Ecuador, symbolizing the botanical heritage of the Andes.

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Conservation Status

Assessment Summary

• Listed as Least Concern due to broad native distribution and continued cultivation.
• Local populations can still be threatened by habitat conversion or overharvest of bark.

Management Notes

• Sustainable bark harvest (small strips, rotational harvesting) helps avoid killing trees.
• Avoid planting in sensitive island ecosystems where it may become invasive.

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Growing Quina

Propagation

Site Requirements

• Light: Partial shade when young; brighter light as it matures.
• Moisture: Consistent humidity and regular rainfall.
• Soils: Deep, well-drained loams or volcanic soils.

Care Tips

• Mulch heavily to mimic cloud-forest leaf litter.
• Protect young trees from strong winds and lowland heat.
• Prune lightly; avoid heavy bark removal without a management plan.

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Seasonal Management Calendar

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Sustainable Bark Stewardship

Practical Harvest Principles

1. Harvest only from mature trees with trunk diameter greater than 20 cm.
2. Remove narrow vertical strips rather than broad panels.
3. Leave at least 70-80% of bark intact per harvest cycle.
4. Rotate harvest faces and allow multi-year recovery before revisiting the same side.
5. Suspend harvest when drought stress, pest pressure, or canopy dieback is observed.

Community and Legal Considerations

• Prioritize cultivated or managed quina sources instead of wild extraction.
• Coordinate with local conservation authorities in protected montane zones.
• Record each harvest event with date, tree ID, and bark volume removed.
• Pair bark-use projects with enrichment planting to maintain population structure.

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Similar Species and Common Confusions

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Field Identification Checklist

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Restoration and Monitoring Use

Why quina is useful in restoration

• Adds historical and cultural value to montane restoration programs.
• Provides nectar resources during key dry-season flowering windows.
• Supports educational trails linking medicinal history with conservation.

Monitoring checklist for planted populations

• Survival: Record alive/dead status at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months.
• Growth: Measure height and stem diameter at least twice yearly.
• Health: Note scorch, dieback, bark wounds, and pest symptoms.
• Reproduction: Track first flowering and capsule production by site.
• Recruitment: Observe natural seedlings to evaluate long-term establishment.

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Research Timeline and Knowledge Gaps

Priority research needs in Costa Rica

• Quantify natural regeneration rates across elevation gradients.
• Compare seedling survival in forest edge versus interior microsites.
• Document pollinator assemblages during dry-season flowering pulses.
• Evaluate climate sensitivity under warmer nighttime temperature scenarios.

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Handling Risk Matrix

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Where to See Quina in Costa Rica

• Look for cultivated specimens in high-elevation botanical gardens and cloud-forest reserves.
• Most likely in montane areas of the Central Volcanic Range and Talamanca regions.

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External Resources

• Kew - Cinchona Tree↗
• Plants of the World Online (POWO)↗
• IUCN Red List↗
• GBIF Species Profile↗
• iNaturalist Observations↗

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References

• Kew Gardens. “Cinchona tree (Cinchona pubescens).”
• Plants of the World Online (Kew).
• GBIF Species Profile for Cinchona pubescens.
• IUCN Red List assessment (Least Concern).
• Wikimedia Commons image credits (Forest & Kim Starr; USGS; scott.zona).