Quas·si·a n. The wood of several tropical American trees of the order Simarubeæ, as Quassia amara, Picræna excelsa, and Simaruba amara. It is intensely bitter, and is used in medicine and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.
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Quassia amara
n : 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, bitterwood]