Quassia simarouba

L. f.

Bitterwood, Paradise-tree

Simaroubaceae Edible: Fruit, Seeds - oil

wikimedia· cc-by

Wikimedia Commons - Geoff Gallice from Gainesville, FL, USA

wikimedia· cc-by-sa

Wikimedia Commons - Smartse

Contribute a photo Sign in required

Description

A tree. It grows 16 m tall. The young leaves are deep rosy red. The flowers are white and small. They hang in huge yellow stemmed panicles. The fruit has a white pulp. The fruit are bitter and edible.

Edible Uses

The fruit are eaten raw. The seeds are pressed for oil, which is used to make margarine and cooking oil.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw. The oil is used to make margarine and coking oil.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

According to the Oxford University Virtual Field Herbarium, the leaves and bark of S. amara have been used as an herbal medicine to treat dysentery, diarrhea, malaria and other illnesses in areas where it grows. WebMD say that there is "no good scientific evidence to support its use". In 1713, it was exported to France where it was used to treat dysentery, being an effective treatment during epidemics between 1718 and 1725. The main biologically active compounds found in S. amara are the quassinoids, a group of triterpenes including ailanthinone, glaucarubinone, and holacanthone. These have been reported to kill protozoa, amoeba, Plasmodium (the cause of malaria). The antimalarial properties were first investigated by scientists in 1947; they found that in chickens, 1 mg of bark extract per 1 kg of body weight had strong antimalarial activity.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It is native to C. America and the West Indies. It grows in tropical America. It can tolerate drought. It can tolerate salt.

Where It Grows

Bahamas, Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guiana, Guatemala, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hispaniola, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Panama, Puerto Rico, Suriname USA, West Indies,

Other Information

Trees are grown commercially in El Salvador.

Notes

There are about 35-42 Quassia species. Some authorities have only one Quassia. They are in Asia and Africa. There is one in tropical America.

Synonyms

Simarouba glauca DC.

Also Known As

Aceituna, Olivo, Simarupa

References (7)

Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 1952
Barwick, M., 2004, Tropical and Subtropical Trees. A Worldwide Encyclopedic Guide. Thames and Hudson p 354
Heywood, V.H., Brummitt, R.K., Culham, A., and Seberg, O., 2007, Flowering Plant Families of the World. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. p 304 (Genus)
Kiple, K.F. & Ornelas, K.C., (eds), 2000, The Cambridge World History of Food. CUP p 1713
Schatz, G.E., 2001, Generic Tree Flora of Madagascar. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. p 388 (Genus)

Show all 7 references