Quassia
Quassia is a plant genus in the family Simaroubaceae. Its size is disputed; some botanists treat it as consisting of only one species, Quassia amara from tropical South America, while others treat it in a wide circumscription as a pantropical genus containing up to 40 species of trees and shrubs. The genus was named after a former slave from Suriname, Graman Quassi in the eighteenth century. He discovered the medicinal properties of the bark of Quassia amara.
Broader treatments of the genus include the following and other species:
- Quassia africana
- Quassia amara
- Quassia arnhemensis – Australia
- Quassia bidwillii
- Quassia indica
- Quassia sp. 'Moonee Creek' – Australia
- Quassia sp. 'Mount Nardi' – Australia
- Quassia sanguinea
- Quassia silvestris
- Quassia undulata
It is the source of the quassinoids quassin and neo-quassin.
