Editing Quassia

{{Short description|Genus of plants in the Simaroubaceae family found in the tropics of the world}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Quassia_amara_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-117.jpg
|image_caption = ''Quassia amara''
|taxon = Quassia
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|synonyms = 
*''Biporeia'' {{small|Thouars}}
*''Hannoa'' {{small|Planch.}}
*''Hyptiandra'' {{small|Hook.f.}}
*''Locandi'' {{small|Adans.}}
*''Manduyta'' {{small|Comm. ex Steud.}}
*''Manungala'' {{small|Blanco}}
*''Mauduita'' {{small|Comm. ex DC.}}
*''Niota'' {{small|Lam.}}
*''Odyendea'' {{small|Engl.}}
*''Samadera'' {{small|Gaertn.}}
*''Samandura'' {{small|L.}}
*''Vitmannia'' {{small|Vahl}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name="powo"/>
}}

'''''Quassia''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɒ|ʃ|ə|}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɒ|ʃ|i|ə|}}) is a plant [[genus]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Simaroubaceae]]. Its size is disputed; some [[botanist]]s 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 [[tree]]s and [[shrub]]s.

==Taxonomy==
The genus was first published in [[Carl Linnaeus]]'s book ''[[Species Plantarum]]'' ed. 2. on page 553 in 1762.<ref name="powo"/>

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]]''.<ref>Christophe Wiart {{google books|SofMBQAAQBAJ|Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific (2006)|page=188}}</ref>

In 1962, Dutch botanist [[Hans Peter Nooteboom]] (1934–2022) had taken a very broad view of the genus ''Quassia'' {{au|L.}} and included therein various genera including, ''[[Hannoa]]'' {{au|Planch.}}, ''[[Odyendyea]]'' {{au|(Pierre) Engl.}}, ''[[Pierreodendron]]'' {{au|Engl.}}, ''[[Samadera]]'' {{au|Gaertn.}}, ''[[Simaba]]'' {{au|Aubl.}} and ''[[Simarouba]]'' {{au|Aubl.}} .<ref name="noteboom">{{cite journal |last1=Noteboom |first1=Hans Peter |title=Generic delimitation in Simaroubaceae tribus Simaroubeae and a conspectus of the genus ''Quassia'' L. |journal=[[Blumea]] |date=1962 |volume=XI |issue=2 |pages=509–28 |url=https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/524782/BLUM1962011002007.pdf |access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=''Quassia indica'' {{!}} International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/814026-1 |website=www.ipni.org |access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref> 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]]'' {{au|Gaertn.}} as the accepted name for ''Quassia indica''. The ornamental ''[[Quassia amara]]'' {{au|L.}}, which is occasionally planted in Singapore, remains in genus ''Quassia''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clayton |first1=J.W. |last2=Fernando |first2=E.S. |last3=Soltis |first3=P.S. |last4=Soltis |first4=D.E. |title=Molecular phylogeny of the Tree-of-Heaven family (Simaroubaceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear markers |journal=Int. J. Plant Sci. |date=2007 |volume=168 |issue=9 |pages=1325–1339|doi=10.1086/521796 }}</ref>

==Distribution==
Members of the genus are found in the Tropics throughout the world.<ref name="powo"/> 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]]'' {{small|L.}}<ref name="powo">{{cite web |title=''Quassia'' L. |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:38243-1 |website=Plants of the POWO)World Online ( |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref>

Although [[World Flora Online]] accepts 16 species;<ref name="WorldFloraOnline">{{cite web |title=''Quassia'' L. |url=https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000032365 |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*''[[Quassia africana]]'' {{small|(Baill.) Baill.}}
*''Quassia amara'' {{small|L.}}
*''[[Quassia arnhemensis]]'' {{small|Craven & Dunlop}}
*''[[Quassia baileyana]]'' {{small|(Oliv.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia bidwillii]]'' {{small|(Hook.f.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia borneensis]]'' {{small|Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia cedron]]'' {{au|(Planch.) D.Dietr.}}
*''[[Quassia crustacea]]'' {{small|(Engl.) Noot.}}
<!-- *''[[Quassia gabonensis]]'' {{small|Pierre}} not listed on WFO -->
*''[[Quassia harmandiana]]'' {{small|(Pierre ex Laness.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia indica]]'' {{small|(Gaertn.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia maiana]]'' {{au|(Casar.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia pohliana]]'' {{small|(F.Boas) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia sanguinea]]'' {{small|Cheek & Jongkind}}
*''[[Quassia schweinfurthii]]'' {{small|(Oliv.) Noot.}}
*''[[Quassia undulata]]'' {{small|(Guill. & Perr.) D.Dietr.}}
*''[[Quassia versicolor]]'' {{small|Spreng.}}
{{div col end}}

There are also taxa that have not been assigned a formal status:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Quassia sp. 'Moonee Creek'|''Quassia'' sp. 'Moonee Creek']], unplaced – Australia <ref>{{cite web |title=Moonee Quassia - profile {{!}} NSW Environment, Energy and Science |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10723 |website=www.environment.nsw.gov.au |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref>
*[[Quassia sp. 'Mount Nardi'|''Quassia'' sp. 'Mount Nardi']], unplaced – Australia
{{div col end}}

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'' {{au|Gaertn.}}), ''Quassia simarouba''	(syn. ''Simarouba amara'' {{au|Aubl.}}) and ''Quassia undulata''.<ref name="Grin">{{cite web |title=Species of ''Quassia'' L. |url=https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomyspecieslist?id=10199&type=genus |website=npgsweb.ars-grin.gov |access-date=7 November 2023}}</ref>

==Uses==
It is the source of the [[quassinoid]]s such as [[quassin]] and [[neo-quassin]].<ref name="pmid20036657">{{cite journal |vauthors=Mishra K, Chakraborty D, Pal A, Dey N |title=Plasmodium falciparum: in vitro interaction of quassin and neo-quassin with artesunate, a hemisuccinate derivative of artemisinin |journal=Exp. Parasitol. |volume=124 |issue=4 |pages=421–7 |date=April 2010 |pmid=20036657 |doi=10.1016/j.exppara.2009.12.007 }}</ref>
''Simalikalactone D'' is a quassinoid that is extracted from ''Quassia africana'' for [[antiviral]] properties.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Apers |first1=S. |last2=Cimanga |first2=K. |last3=Berghe |first3=D.V. |last4=Meenen |first4=E.V. |last5=Longanga |first5=A.O. |last6=Foriers |first6=A. |display-authors=etal |title=Antiviral activity of simalikalactone D, a quassinoid from ''Quassia africana''. |journal=Planta Med. |date=2002 |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=20–4|doi=10.1055/s-2002-19870 |pmid=11842321 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikispecies-inline}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1947702}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Quassia| ]]
[[Category:Sapindales genera]]
[[Category:Plant toxin insecticides]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1762]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]