Cinchona lucumifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a tree with papery leaves, violet or purplish flowers, and capsule fruits. The species is native to Ecuador.
Cinchona lucumifolia was described in 1838, and is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Taxonomy Cinchona lucumifolia was first validly published by John Lindley in 1838, following an earlier invalid publication by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez.
Paul Carpenter Standley treated Cinchona lucumifolia as a synonym of Cinchona officinalis.
Distribution Cinchona lucumifolia is native to the wet tropical biome of Ecuador. It grows at elevations of , on the slopes of the eastern cordillera.
Description Cinchona lucumifolia is a tree that grows up to high, and around wide at breast height.
The leaves are papery when dry, elliptical or oblong, long, and wide. The edges are rolled downwards slightly. The leaves rarely have indistinct domatia. The leaf stems are long.
The calyx is long, and has long lobes. The corolla is a violet or purplish tube, measuring long, with long lobes.
The fruit is a dehiscent, ellipsoid to subglobose capsule. The capsule is long, wide, and has a woody endocarp. The seeds are long, and wide.
Cinchona lucumifolia may hybridise with Cinchona pubescens, which is a sympatric species.
Conservation In 2024, the IUCN assessed Cinchona lucumifolia as Vulnerable.
Nomenclature In Spanish, the species is known as .
References