Quassia ( or ) is a plant genus in the family Simaroubaceae. Its size is disputed; some botanists treat it as consisting of only one species, Quassia amara from tropical South America, while others treat it in a wide circumscription as a pantropical genus containing up to 40 species of trees and shrubs. The genus was named after a former slave from Suriname, Graman Quassi in the eighteenth century. He discovered the medicinal properties of the bark of Quassia amara. Distribution Members of the genus are found in the Tropics throughout the world. Countries and regions where species are native include: Andaman Islands, Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, North and Northeast Brazil, Burkina, Cabinda, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Laos, Leeward Islands, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaya, Mali, Central, Southeast and Southwest Mexico, Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Territory, Panamá, Philippines, Queensland, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam, Windward Islands, Zambia, and Zaïre. The plant is naturalised in the following places: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Jawa, and Puerto Rico. List of accepted species Accepted species of the genus, as of February 2021, are: Quassia africana Quassia amara Quassia arnhemensis Quassia baileyana Quassia bidwillii Quassia borneensis Quassia crustacea Quassia gabonensis Quassia harmandiana Quassia indica Quassia pohliana Quassia sanguinea Quassia schweinfurthii Quassia undulata Quassia versicolor There are also taxa that have not been assigned a formal status: Quassia sp. 'Moonee Creek', unplaced – Australia Quassia sp. 'Mount Nardi', unplaced – Australia Uses It is the source of the quassinoids quassin and neo-quassin. References External links Sapindales genera Plant toxin insecticides