Quassia

[kwɒʃiә]

Definition

(noun.) handsome South American shrub or small tree having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its wood and bark.

(noun.) a bitter compound used as an insecticide and tonic and vermifuge; extracted from the wood and bark of trees of the genera Quassia and Picrasma.

Edited by Julius--From WordNet

Definition

(n.) The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeae, as Quassia amara, Picraena excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.

Checked by Adrienne

Definition

n. a South American tree the bitter wood and bark of which are used as a tonic.—ns. Quass′ine Quass′ite the bitter principle of quassia-wood the Bitter-wood of the West Indies.

Inputed by Franklin