quassia amara
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (1)
- 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 barkSynonyms: quassiabitterwoodQuassia amara
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Quassia \Quas"si*a\, n. [NL. From the name of a negro, Quassy, or Quash, who prescribed this article as a specific.] The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarube[ae], as Quassia amara, Picr[ae]na excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer. [1913 Webster]