Simarouba amaraAubl.

WFO wfo-0000492139 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Simarouba amara, photographed by Brian Oakes Haiti Hunter
fig. a Brian Oakes Haiti Hunter, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-04-28 / obs. 123626331
Simarouba amara, photographed by Francisco Emilio Roldán Velasco
fig. b Francisco Emilio Roldán Velasco, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 120063152
Simarouba amara, photographed by Letizia Weichgrebe
fig. c Letizia Weichgrebe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 55310718
Simarouba amara, photographed by Letizia Weichgrebe
fig. d Letizia Weichgrebe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 56233449
Simarouba amara, photographed by Lena Struwe
fig. e Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 38656039
Simarouba amara, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. f Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 6291400
Simarouba amara, photographed by Lena Struwe
fig. g Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 60761173
Simarouba amara, photographed by Lena Struwe
fig. h Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 1924376

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 27 botanical countries

Regions where Simarouba amara is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasNicaraguaPanamáPeruSouthwest CaribbeanSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Simarouba amara, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Southwest Caribbean SWC
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 10 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Pistacia americana Mill.
  • Quassia alatifolia Stokes
  • Quassia dioica P.J.Bergius
  • Quassia officinalis Rich.
  • Quassia simarouba W.Wright
  • Quassia simaruba L.f.
  • Simarouba amara var. opaca Engl.
  • Simarouba amara var. puberula Cuatrec.
  • Simarouba amara var. typica Cronquist
  • Simarouba opaca (Engl.) Radlk. ex F.Boas

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.