This species is unusual in Cinchona in its slender, shrubby or more often clambering or lianescent habit, its leaves that are usually sharply acute, and its occurrence from sea level to 1500 m elevation or occasionally a bit higher. Cinchona barbacoensis can be recognized within this genus by its calyx limb that is only very shallowly lobed, up to 1/4 of its length; the slender, often climbing habit; and its relatively long slender capsules and long narrow seeds.

This species is sometimes confused with Joosia umbellifera, which has leaves of similar size with sharp tips and capsules of very similar size and shape that are borne in groups of generally similar number and form; however Joosia differs in its leaves with the quaternary venation lineolate (i.e., finely parallel within each areole), its axillary inflorescences, and its flowers with the lobes usually elaborately crisped or appendaged along their margins.