Flora Medica

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, longerthan the petals. Ovaries 5, placed on a receptacle broaderthan themselves ;styles the same number, distinct at the base,there united into 1very long one, terminating in a nearly equal5-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. i.DC.prodr. 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 atthe base, jointed below the apex, and there having 2 little bracts.Wood intensely bitter. Lund and others assert that this does not yieldthe Quassia chips of the European druggists, but refer them to Picrasnaexcelsa. But Guibourt says that the wood of both the root and stemof this Quassia is imported in the form of white scentless very lightcylinders 1-2 inches in diameter ; and that the Picraena wood is inferiorin quality.I learn however from Mr. Lanae who resided for manyyears in Surinam, that although large quantities of Quassia were exported20 or 30 years since, yet that for many years none has beencollected for that purpose, and he did not hear of a single instance ofits shipment during the 10 years he passed in Surinam. Quassia woodis in fact no longer used even in that Colony as a medicine, beingthought to have some bad properties along with its intense bitter. Theflowers are however still infused in wine or water as a stomachic.SIMARUBA.Flowers unisexual. Calyx small, cup-shaped, 5-toothed orparted. Petals 5, longer, spreading. g Stamens . nearly equalto the petals, arranged around a receptacle bearing at its apex5 very minute lobes (rudiments of ovaries) or sometimes none.9 Ovaries . 5, placed on an even disk, surrounded at the base by10 short hairy scales (rudiments of stamens). Styles the samenumber, short, distinct at the base, there united into one crownedby a broader 5-lobed stigma. Fruit 5 drupes.425. S. amara Aubl. guian. t. 331 and 332. p. 860. QuassiaSimaruba Linn, suppl. 234. Lam. ill. t, 343. f. 2. S. and C.207