SIMARUBACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 129. 



QUASSIA. 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx short, 5-parted. Petals 5, 

 much longer, arranged in a tubular form. Stamens 10, longer 

 than the petals. Ovaries 5, placed on a receptacle broader 

 than themselves ; styles the same number, distinct at the base, 

 there united into 1 very long one, terminating in a nearly equal 

 5-furrowed stigma. Fruit drupaceous. A. de J. 



424-. Q. amara Linn.f. suppl. 235. Amcen. acad. vi. 421. t. 4. 

 Woodv. t. 77. S. and C. iii. t. 172. DC.prodr. i. 733. Lodd. 

 hot. cab. t. 172. Surinam, Guayana, Colombia, Panama. 



Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate ; leaflets in 2 pairs, opposite, 

 entire, smooth, elliptical, acute at each end; petiole winged, jointed, 

 with the joints obovate. Racemes long, 1-sided, simple, terminal, 

 rarely branched. Flowers large, scarlet, distant; pedicels bracteate at 

 the base, jointed below the apex, and there having 2 little bracts. 

 Wood intensely bitter. Lund and others assert that this does not yield 

 the Quassia chips of the European druggists, but refer them to Picrasna 

 excelsa. But Guibourt says that the wood of both the root and stem 

 of this Quassia is imported in the form of white scentless very light 

 cylinders 1-2 inches in diameter ; and that the Picraena wood is inferior 

 in quality. I learn however from Mr. Lanae who resided for many 

 years in Surinam, that although large quantities of Quassia were ex- 

 ported 20 or 30 years since, yet that for many years none has been 

 collected for that purpose, and he did not hear of a single instance of 

 its shipment during the 10 years he passed in Surinam. Quassia wood 

 is in fact no longer used even in that Colony as a medicine, being 

 thought to have some bad properties along with its intense bitter. The 

 flowers are however still infused in wine or water as a stomachic. 



SIMARUBA. 



Flowers unisexual. Calyx small, cup-shaped, 5-toothed or 

 parted. Petals 5, longer, spreading. g . Stamens nearly equal 

 to the petals, arranged around a receptacle bearing at its apex 

 5 very minute lobes (rudiments of ovaries) or sometimes none. 



9 . Ovaries 5, placed on an even disk, surrounded at the base by 



10 short hairy scales (rudiments of stamens). Styles the same 

 number, short, distinct at the base, there united into one crowned 

 by a broader 5-lobed stigma. Fruit 5 drupes. 



425. S. amara Aubl. guian. t. 331 and 332. p. 860. Quassia 

 Simaruba Linn, suppl. 234. Lam. ill. t, 343. f. 2. S. and C. 

 207 



