342 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES QUANDANG 



abundant, and its bulbous roots form a large proportion of the 

 vegetable food of the Indians. 



Quandang Nut (Santahmi acuminatum), a tree oHhe Sandal- 

 wood family (Santalacece), attaining a height of 20 or 30 feet, 

 having a drupaceous fruit which is used as a preserve, and may 

 be considered one of the few native fruits of Australia worthy 

 of the name of fruit. 



Quassia {Quassia amara), a small tree of the family Sima- 

 rubacese, native of Surinam and Guiana, from whence it has been 

 introduced into the West Indies. The generic name Quassia is 

 derived from a negro named Quassi of Surinam, who employed 

 the wood with uncommon success as a secret remedy in the 

 malignant endemic fevers which frequently prevailed in Suri- 

 nam. He sold the secret to Daniel Eolander, a Swede, who, in 

 1756, brought specimens of the wood to Stockholm, and shortly 

 afterwards it became highly extolled throughout Europe, and it 

 has been prescribed by numerous eminent doctors as an excel- 

 lent tonic. The whole plant — root, wood, and bark — is intensely 

 bitter, and possesses highly antiseptic properties. On account 

 of its bitterness it has been used by brewers as a substitute for 

 hops. The bitterness of the Surinam Quassia is, however, super- 

 seded by the Jamaica Quassia, Picrcena excelsa, a tree of the same 

 family, common in the lowlands of Jamaica, attaining a height 

 of 50 to 60 feet. The Quassia wood of the shops is now prin- 

 cipally the produce of this tree. Its medical qualities are the 

 same as those of the Surinam Quassia. The bitter cups sold a 

 few years ago in curiosity shops are made of this wood, and water 

 allowed to remain in the cup for a short time becomes bitter. 

 An infusion of Quassia chips destroys flies. Another bitter tree 

 of this family is Simaruha amara, a tree attaining a height 

 of 20 feet, native of the "West Indies and Guiana. The bark is 

 extremely bitter, and is used in the form of a decoction in many 

 complaints. 



Quebracho, Red [LoxoiJterygium Lorcntzii), a tree of the 

 Cashew Nut family (Anacardiacese), native of Colorado and Mexico. 

 It is said to possess the same properties as the following. 



