The New International Encyclopædia/Bitterwood

BITTERWOOD. A name given to certain species of the genus Xylopia, trees and shrubs remarkable for the bitterness of their wood, particularly the West Indian Xylopia glabra. Furniture made of this wood is safe from the attacks of insects. The genus Xylopia belongs to the natural order Anonaceæ. The fruit of some of the species, particularly Xylopia sericea, is highly aromatic and pungent like pepper. Xylopia sericea is a large tree, a native of Brazil; its bark is used for making excellent cordage.

Bitterwood is also the name of Quassia excelsa or Simaruba excelsa, a tree of the natural order Simarubaceæ, a native of Jamaica, the wood of which is used in medicine. Botanically, it is very nearly allied to the true quassia, and possesses very similar properties, containing the crystallizable bitter principle called quassin. The wood, which is intensely bitter, is a very useful stomachic and tonic; if introduced by the rectum, it acts in certain eases as an excellent anthelmintic. An infusion of bitterwood is, further, a well-known and useful fly-poison; and it appears to act as a powerful narcotic on many quadrupeds.