Quassia undulata
Quassia undulata
Safety & Hazards
The seed is said to be poisonous to livestock, but it loses its toxicity on drying[1].
Cultivation Details
A tree of the tropics, being found at low to moderate elevations. Requires a sunny position[1]. A fast-growing species, 5-year-old saplings were recorded to be on average 4.1 metres tall, but some trees were already 3.5 metres tall after only 2 years[1]. Mean annual increments in diameter of about 1.2 cm have been recorded[1]. Seeds are likely to be dispersed by animals and by water, the seeds being buoyant[1]. As it is light demanding, regeneration in savannah conditions is better than in forest conditions. It soon colonizes clearings and old farm land[1]. The tree can be coppiced and pollarded[2]. The plant is tolerant to fire[1].
Propagation
Seed - for good germination, the seeds should be sown immediately after being collected, because they lose their viability rapidly[1]. The seeds germinate in 6 - 22 days[1]. Initial growth in the nursery is slow, with 5-month-old seedlings being only 11 - 12 cm tall[1]. Seedlings are ready to be planted out when they are about 14 months old. They are planted in full sun in pure stands or mixed with other light-demanding and not too fast growing species[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Quassia+undulata>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [2]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
- [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.