There has been considerable confusion by botanists over this species, Quassia sylvestris and Quassia undulata, with all three at one time being treated as one species (as Quassia undulata). More recent research ('Two new names in West-Central African Quassia L. [Simaroubaceae]'; Martin Cheek & Carel C. H, Jongkind, Kew Bulletin Vol. 63 247-250 []) has concluded that these species are distinct, and this is the treatment that is followed here[].

Common Name:

General Information

Quassia gabonensis is a medium-sized to fairly large tree that can grow up to 40 metres tall[]. The bole, which can be branchless for up to 24 metres, is up to 200 cm in diameter, usually straight, and deeply fluted over its entire length[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of timber.

Known Hazards

Cytotoxic quassinoids have been isolated from the bark[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Cameroon to Congo.

Habitat

Mainly found in rainforest, in primary as well as in secondary forest, often on sandy soils[]. Although it nowhere occurs abundantly, it is locally common[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	35.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

The fruits, known locally as 'Nzeng' are used locally as a condiment[]. A flour prepared from the seeds is used as a condiment in sauces[]. To prepare the flour, the seeds are first boiled for 2 - 3 hours, then placed in running water for one week to eliminate their bitterness, after which they are kept in a smokehouse to dry for one month, and then crushed to obtain the flour[].

Fat extracted from the seeds can be eaten raw[].

Medicinal

A mixture of the pounded leaves, combined with palm oil, is rubbed on the head as a treatment against head lice[].

A decoction of the bark is taken as a treatment against stomach-ache, bronchitis and lung complaints[].
The ground bark mixed with palm oil is applied as a salve to treat psoriasis[]. The head is washed with a maceration of the bark as a treatment for head lice[].
Cytotoxic quassinoids have been isolated from the bark[].

Fat extracted from the seeds is made into various medicines[].

Other Uses

The heartwood is pale yellow and lustrous; it is not demarcated from the sapwood[]. The grain is fairly regular, sometimes irregular, texture medium to coarse. The wood is lightweight, soft, brittle and has a low durability, being liable to fungal attack and susceptible to termites, powder-post beetles and dry-wood borers[]. Seasoned wood saws easily and planes well. Screws and nails are applied easily, with little tendency for the wood to split, but it does not hold nails well[]. The wood peels and slices easily, but as the logs are deeply fluted peeling is not recommended[]. It can be pulped satisfactorily using the kraft or sulphite processes[].
The wood is used for making musical instruments, mallets to beat bark for house construction, spoons, and bells for hunting dogs. In general it is considered suitable for ship and boat building, furniture and cabinet work, frame moulding, light boxes and crates, interior trim, matches, toys and novelties, veneer and plywood, hardboard and particle board, wood-wool, and as pulpwood[].

Propagation

Seed -

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