This attractive shrub or small tree is Bitter Ash, Quassia amara. It belongs to the Simaroubaceae family, a group whose members are well known for the intensely bitter compounds found in their wood, bark and leaves. It is native to tropical parts of Central America and northern South America.

Bitter Ash usually grows as a slender, rather open shrub or small tree. Its leaves are compound, with several glossy green leaflets arranged along a winged central stalk. That flattened, leaf-like stalk is a useful feature for identifying the plant, even when it is not in flower.

The flowers are its most striking feature. They are long, narrow and tubular, usually bright red or scarlet on the outside, with a yellow or orange interior. They hang in loose clusters from the ends of the branches, almost like small glowing lanterns.

Their shape and color are especially attractive to hummingbirds, which can reach the nectar deep within the flowers. In return, the birds carry pollen from flower to flower. Butterflies and other insects may also visit them.

After flowering, the plant produces small fruits arranged around a central base. These begin green and become dark red or nearly black as they mature. Each fleshy section usually contains a single seed.

The common name “Bitter Ash” refers to the remarkably bitter taste of the plant’s tissues. Extracts from Quassia amara have a long history of traditional use, and its bitter compounds have also been used in preparations intended to stimulate the appetite, aid digestion or discourage insects. Such traditional uses should not be taken as a recommendation for self-treatment.

The name Quassia is traditionally associated with Quassia, also known as Graman Quassi, an eighteenth-century healer and botanically knowledgeable man of African origin in Suriname, who helped bring European attention to the plant’s medicinal use.

Bitter Ash is therefore a plant of contrasts: delicate foliage, brilliant hummingbird-pollinated flowers and some of the most intensely bitter wood and bark found in the tropical plant world. It is beautiful to look at, but its name reminds us that appearance is only one part of a plant’s identity.