sassywood

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)A form of trial by ordeal in Liberia, typically involving a suspect drinking a poisonous concoction made from the bark of the ordeal tree Erythrophleum guineense, Erythrophleum ivorense, or Erythrophleum suaveolens (called sassy bark); by extension, other forms of trial by ordeal such as applying a heated machete to the suspect's legs, or dipping the suspect's hand into hot oil.
2. (uncountable, usually)The ordeal tree itself, the bark of which is used in the sassywood procedure.

   “This man, being informed of his sentence, pleaded innocence, and said he himself would drink Sasswood water to prove it. His friends urged him to confess, as his brother, the king, said he had no ill will against him, and did not wish him to drink the Sasswood, unless it was his own pleasure to do so. He still, however, persisted in his wish to make the trial. Four pieces of the Sasswood tree, each about the size of a finger nail, were then prepared for him; […]”

   “The trial by drinking a decoction of sassy-wood and other poisons is one of the worst of the religious rites of that barbarous region. It is imposed at the pleasure of the chiefs, on those accused of crime, with the pretence that it will not injure the innocent; but is managed so as to kill all whom the chiefs wish to destroy.”

   “The bark of the sassy-wood is powerfully narcotic, and a strong decoction of this the person condemned is forced to drink; […]”