Quassia

Quassia is a plant genus in the family Simaroubaceae. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus who named it after the first botanist to describe it: the Surinamese freedman Graman Quassi.

Quassia is used as a natural insecticide, for the production of bitter tonics and liqueurs, in traditional medicine.

Species

The genus includes the following species:

• Quassia amara L. – a shrub or rarely a small tree, native to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia; naturalized in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
• Quassia africana Baill. – Gabon, São Tomé, Príncipe
• Quassia bidwillii Benth. – Queensland, New South Wales
• Quassia indica (Gaertn.) Nooteboom – India, Sri Lanka, Andaman & Nicobar, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Philippines, Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Queensland, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Caroline Islands, Marianas, Taiwan
• Quassia sp. A – Gabon
• Quassia sp. B – Gabon

Uses

Quassia wood is used for making furniture. The bark and wood are used to make a bitter tonic and a liqueur. The plant is also used in traditional medicine for treating malaria, fever, and anorexia. It is also used as an insecticide.

See also

• Simaroubaceae
• Insecticide
• Malaria
• Fever
• Anorexia

Quassia Resources
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