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Quassia
	Quassia amara
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Simaroubaceae
Genus:	Quassia; L.
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Biporeia Thouars; Hannoa Planch.; Hyptiandra Hook.f.; Locandi Adans.; Manduyta Comm. ex Steud.; Manungala Blanco; Mauduita Comm. ex DC.; Niota Lam.; Odyendea Engl.; Samadera Gaertn.; Samandura L.; Vitmannia Vahl;

Quassia (/ˈkwɒʃə/ or /ˈkwɒʃiə/) 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.

Taxonomy

The genus was first published in Carl Linnaeus's book Species Plantarum ed. 2. on page 553 in 1762.^[1]

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.^[2]

In 1962, Dutch botanist Hans Peter Nooteboom (1934–2022) had taken a very broad view of the genus Quassia L. and included therein various genera including, Hannoa Planch., Odyendyea (Pierre) Engl., Pierreodendron Engl., Samadera Gaertn., Simaba Aubl. and Simarouba Aubl. .^[3]^[4] Then in 2007, DNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses was carried out on members of the Simaroubaceae family. It found that genus Samadera was a sister to Clade V and that genus Quassia was also a sister to Clade V but they had separate lineages. This suggested the splitting up of genera Quassia again, with all Nooteboom's synonyms listed above being resurrected as independent genera. This includes Samadera indica Gaertn. as the accepted name for Quassia indica. The ornamental Quassia amara L., which is occasionally planted in Singapore, remains in genus Quassia.^[5]

Distribution

Members of the genus are found in the Tropics throughout the world.^[1] Countries and regions where species are native include: Andaman Islands, Angola, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, northern and northeastern 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.

Species

The only accepted species of the genus, by Plants of the World Online as of November 2023 is: Quassia amara L.^[1]

Although World Flora Online accepts 16 species;^[6]

Quassia africana (Baill.) Baill.
Quassia amara L.
Quassia arnhemensis Craven & Dunlop
Quassia baileyana (Oliv.) Noot.
Quassia bidwillii (Hook.f.) Noot.
Quassia borneensis Noot.
Quassia cedron (Planch.) D.Dietr.
Quassia crustacea (Engl.) Noot.
Quassia harmandiana (Pierre ex Laness.) Noot.
Quassia indica (Gaertn.) Noot.
Quassia maiana (Casar.) Noot.
Quassia pohliana (F.Boas) Noot.
Quassia sanguinea Cheek & Jongkind
Quassia schweinfurthii (Oliv.) Noot.
Quassia undulata (Guill. & Perr.) D.Dietr.
Quassia versicolor Spreng.

There are also taxa that have not been assigned a formal status:

Quassia sp. 'Moonee Creek', unplaced – Australia ^[7]
Quassia sp. 'Mount Nardi', unplaced – Australia

The genus has been verified by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service (Germplasm Resources Information Network) and they only list 6 species; Quassia amara, Quassia cedron (syn. Simaba cedron, Quassia excelsa (syn. Picrasma excelsa), Quassia indica (syn. Samadera indica Gaertn.), Quassia simarouba (syn. Simarouba amara Aubl.) and Quassia undulata.^[8]

Uses

It is the source of the quassinoids such as quassin and neo-quassin.^[9] Simalikalactone D is a quassinoid that is extracted from Quassia africana for antiviral properties.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Quassia L." Plants of the POWO)World Online (. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ Christophe Wiart Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific (2006), p. 188, at Google Books
^ Noteboom, Hans Peter (1962). "Generic delimitation in Simaroubaceae tribus Simaroubeae and a conspectus of the genus Quassia L." (PDF). Blumea. XI (2): 509–28. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^ "Quassia indica | International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
^ Clayton, J.W.; Fernando, E.S.; Soltis, P.S.; Soltis, D.E. (2007). "Molecular phylogeny of the Tree-of-Heaven family (Simaroubaceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear markers". Int. J. Plant Sci. 168 (9): 1325–1339. doi:10.1086/521796.
^ "Quassia L." Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^ "Moonee Quassia - profile | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^ "Species of Quassia L." npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^ Mishra K, Chakraborty D, Pal A, Dey N (April 2010). "Plasmodium falciparum: in vitro interaction of quassin and neo-quassin with artesunate, a hemisuccinate derivative of artemisinin". Exp. Parasitol. 124 (4): 421–7. doi:10.1016/j.exppara.2009.12.007. PMID 20036657.
^ Apers, S.; Cimanga, K.; Berghe, D.V.; Meenen, E.V.; Longanga, A.O.; Foriers, A.; et al. (2002). "Antiviral activity of simalikalactone D, a quassinoid from Quassia africana". Planta Med. 68 (1): 20–4. doi:10.1055/s-2002-19870. PMID 11842321.