Bitterwood

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Bitterwood \Bit"ter*wood`\, n.
     A West Indian tree ({Picr[ae]na excelsa}) from the wood of
     which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



  bitterwood
       n 1: handsome South American shrub or small tree having bright
            scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained
            yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its
            wood and bark [syn: {quassia}, {Quassia amara}]
       2: West Indian tree yielding the drug Jamaica quassia [syn: {Jamaica
          quassia}, {Picrasma excelsa}, {Picrasma excelsum}]
       3: medium to large tree of tropical North and South America
          having odd-pinnate leaves and long panicles of small pale
          yellow flowers followed by scarlet fruits [syn: {paradise
          tree}, {Simarouba glauca}]