Bit·ter·wood n. A West Indian tree (Picræna excelsa) from the wood of which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.
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bitterwood
n 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 bark [syn: quassia, Quassia amara]
2: West Indian tree yielding the drug Jamaica quassia [syn: Jamaica
quassia, Picrasma excelsa, Picrasma excelsum]
3: medium to large tree of tropical North and South America
having odd-pinnate leaves and long panicles of small pale
yellow flowers followed by scarlet fruits [syn: paradise
tree, Simarouba glauca]