quassia noun. ['kwasɪǝ, 'kwaʃ-, 'kwɒʃ-] M18.
[mod. Latin (see below), from Surinamese slave Graman Quassi (= QUASHEE), who first discovered the medicinal properties of Quassia amara.]
A medicinal wood or bark, orig. (more fully Suriname quassia) that of the simarouba, Quassia amara (family Simaroubaceae), now chiefly that of several related trees, esp. the bitter ash, Picrasmia excelsa, of the W. Indies; the bitter drug obtained from the wood etc. of any of these trees, formerly much used as a tonic and as an insecticide. Also, any of the trees yielding quassia.

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