Quassia gabonensis

Pierre

Simaroubaceae Edible: Fruit - spice, Seeds - spice Potential hazards — see below

gbif· cc-by

Meise Botanic Garden

gbif· cc-by

Meise Botanic Garden

gbif· cc-by

Meise Botanic Garden

Description

A large tree. It grows 40 m tall. The wood is soft and white. The trunk can be 2 m across. The leaves have 7-19 opposite leaflets. The flowers are yellowish-white, The fruit are black and shiny.

Edible Uses

The seeds are boiled for 2-3 hours, then washed for several days in running water, dried, and crushed. Fat is extracted from the processed seeds and eaten raw. Both fruit and seeds are used as spices.

Traditional Uses

The seeds are boiled for 2-3 hours then washed for a few days in running water before being dried and crushed. Fat is extracted from the seeds and eaten raw.

Medicinal Uses

The seeds undergo a traditional processing method of boiling and water washing before consumption.

Known Hazards

Cytotoxic quassinoids have been isolated from the bark.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in rainforest.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, West Africa,

Other Uses

The heartwood is pale yellow and lustrous; it is not demarcated from the sapwood. The grain is fairly regular, sometimes irregular, texture medium to coarse. The wood is lightweight, soft, brittle and has a low durability, being liable to fungal attack and susceptible to termites, powder-post beetles and dry-wood borers. Seasoned wood saws easily and planes well. Screws and nails are applied easily, with little tendency for the wood to split, but it does not hold nails well. The wood peels and slices easily, but as the logs are deeply fluted peeling is not recommended. It can be pulped satisfactorily using the kraft or sulphite processes. The wood is used for making musical instruments, mallets to beat bark for house construction, spoons, and bells for hunting dogs. In general it is considered suitable for ship and boat building, furniture and cabinet work, frame moulding, light boxes and crates, interior trim, matches, toys and novelties, veneer and plywood, hardboard and particle board, wood-wool, and as pulpwood.

Synonyms

Hannis kitombetombe G. C. C. GilbertHannoa klaineana Pierre & Engl.Hannoa njariensis G. C. C. GilbertOdyendea gabunensis (Pierre) Engl.Odyendea klaineana (Pierre) Engl.Odyendyea gabonensis (Pierre) Engl.Quassia silvestris Cheek & JongkindQuassia undulata f. silvestris Voorh.Simaba gabonensis (Pierre) Feuillet