Chandigarh Forests

Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh

BIXA ORELLANA Linn

Division

Angiosperms

Class

Dicotledons

Subclass

Polypetalae

Order

Thalamiflorae

Family

Bixaceae

Genus

Bixa

Species

orellana

Etymology:

Biche is a Brazillian name of Bixa orellana a source of anatto dye.

Botanical name:

 

Bixa orellana Linn

Local/Trade names:

Achiote, Arnatto, Lipistic tree

Conservation status:

 

Cultivated throughout India

Digonestic features:

Fruits spiny with red pulp.

Description:

Small evergreen tree, up to 6 m high. Bark brown, smooth. Leaves 7-16 x 5-11 cm, broadly ovate to cordate, undersurface with minute scurfy dots. Flowers showy, pink or purplish – tinged or white. Fruit 3-6 cm long, ovoid, densely but softly spiny. Seeds many in a farinaceous red pulp.

Phenology:

 

Fls.: Sept.-Oct. Frts.: Dec.-Feb.

Distribution:

 

Native of the West Indies; tropical South and Central America.

Where to see it:

Ornamental Flowering Section.

Uses:

Seeds yield the Annato dye which was used for colouring silk and cotton, but it is not a fast dye. Now mainly used for colouring foodstuffs, such as butter, ghee, margarine, cheese, chocolate, etc. May also be suitable for floor polishes, shoe polishes, hair oils, etc.

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