A certainty on a tree, a source of quinine (8)
I believe the answer is:
cinchona
'tree a source of quinine' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'a certainty on a' is the wordplay.
'a certainty' becomes 'cinch' (I've seen this before).
'cinch'+'on'+'a'='CINCHONA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cinchona that I've seen before include "Medicinal bark" , "Tree, its bark for quinine" , "medicinal drug" .)