Bitterwood

Aeschrion excelsa (Sw.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 103. 1891
Quassia excelsa Sw. Prodr. 67. 1788.
Simarouba excelsa DC. Ann. Mus. Paris 17 : 424. 1811.
Picraena excelsa Lindl. Fl. Med. 208. 1838.
Picrasma excelsa Planch. Lond. Jour. Bot. 5 : 574. 1846.
Aeschrion excelsa microcarpa Krug & Urban; Urban, Bot. Jahrb. 15: 306. 1893.
A tree commonly 12 m. tall with minutely pubescent twigs. Leaves mostly 1.5-3.5 dm. long, the rachis finely pubescent, the leaflets 9-13, the blades oblong, elliptic, lanceolate or ovate-oblong and 5-12 cm. long, or ovate and 2-5 cm. long on the lower part of the rachis, usually somewhat acuminate but obtuse, minutely pubescent, especially on the veins beneath, acute at the base; corymbs long-peduncled ; sepals ovate, 1 mm. long or less, pubescent ; petals oblong or nearly so, those of the staminate flowers 1.5-2 mm. long, those of the pistillate flowers about 3 mm. long; drupes globose or obovoid-globose, 5-7.5 mm. in diameter, black.
Type locality : Jamaica.
Distribution : Jamaica and Santo Domingo.

Picrasma excelsa is a species of Picrasma in the family Simaroubaceae. It is found in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela. It is threatened by habitat loss.