Scientific name: Quassia amara
Vern: bitter wood (En)
Local: bitter ash / quassia (GU); kwasibita (Sr); quassia / bois amer (FG); pau-tenente / quina (BrP)
Indig: kwasibita (Tr)
Growth Form: Trees & shrubs
Order: Sapindales
Family: Simaroubaceae
Notes: Quassia amara is an understory shrub or small tree native to the Guiana Shield and northern Amazonia. It is renowned globally as one of the most intensely bitter plants in existence, a property driven by high concentrations of phytochemicals called quassinoids (specifically quassin and neoquassin).
The genus name Quassia carries a fascinating historical narrative directly rooted in Suriname. It honors Graman Quassi (c. 1692–1787), a renowned healer, herbalist, and spiritual leader of African descent who lived in western Suriname. In the mid-eighteenth century, Quassi discovered that a bitter decoction brewed from the wood of this native tree was an incredibly effective treatment for the severe, malignant fevers (malaria) plaguing the region. In 1756, he shared the secret of this remedy with European authorities. The plant specimens eventually reached the preeminent taxonomist Carl Linnaeus, who officially established the genus Quassia in Quassi’s honor, immortalizing the Surinamese healer in modern botanical nomenclature.