Quassia wood chips, also called Jamaican quassia, is a tropical shrub-like plant distributed throughout Venezuela, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru. It is also cultivated in other temperate regions.
The bark of this plant is considered to be one of the most bitter naturally occurring substances known, a characteristic that gives rise to another common name for quassia wood — bitterwood. Its properties are due to the presence of a number of active compounds and bitter principles, including beta-sitosterol, isoparain, malic acid and quassialactol.
