Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bitterwood \Bit"ter*wood`\, n.
   A West Indian tree ({Picr[ae]na excelsa}) from the wood of
   which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.

Source : WordNet®

bitterwood
     n 1: handsome South American shrub or small tree having bright
          scarlet flowers and yielding a valuable fine-grained
          yellowish wood; yields the bitter drug quassia from its
          wood and bark [syn: {quassia}, {Quassia amara}]
     2: West Indian tree yielding the drug Jamaica quassia [syn: {Jamaica
        quassia}, {Picrasma excelsa}, {Picrasma excelsum}]
     3: medium to large tree of tropical North and South America
        having odd-pinnate leaves and long panicles of small pale
        yellow flowers followed by scarlet fruits [syn: {paradise
        tree}, {Simarouba glauca}]