QUASSIA

quassia, bitterwood, Quassia amara

(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

quassia

(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

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

From the genus name.

Noun

quassia (plural quassias)

Any of several tropic trees, of the genus Quassia, having scarlet flowers.

The bitter substance quassin extracted from its bark.

Source: Wiktionary

Quas"si*a, n. Etym: [NL. From the name of a negro, Quassy, or Quash, who prescribed this article as a specific.]

Definition: The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeæ, as Quassia amara, Picræna excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition