BIXACEyE. 



Nat. si/st. ed. 2. p. 72. 



BIXA. 



Sepals 5, orbicular, tuberculate at the base, deciduous. Pe- 

 tals 5, obovate, entire. Stamens numerous, distinct : filaments 

 filiform : anthers ovate. Style single, elongated, so compressed 

 at the apex as to be almost ligulate. Capsule 2-valved, valves 

 prickly on the outside, bearing a linear placenta internally along 

 their middle. Seeds 8-10, attached to each placenta, surrounded 

 by a farinaceous coloured pulp. Albumen fleshy. Trees with 

 broad cordate leaves, and dichotomous panicles of large flowers. 

 W. and A. 



224. B. Orellana Linn. sp. 730. DC. prodr. i. 259. — Urucu 

 Shane ii. p. 52. t. 181. f. i. — The tropical parts of America, 

 especially near springs and rivulets. (Arnotto.) 



A small tree with a stem 10 or 12 feet high. Leaves cordate pel- 

 tate, taper-pointed, smooth and shining, on long stalks. Flowers in 

 terminal panicles, pale pink; petals oblong, fleshy; stamens very 

 numerous, with roundish purple anthers. Fruit hard, bristly, heart- 

 shaped, 2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds angular, covered with an orange 

 red waxen pulp or pellicle. — The latter substance is the arnotto of 

 the shops ; it is separated from the seeds by washing. It is chiefly 

 used for staining cheese, and in the preparation of chocolate; but was 

 reckoned an antidote to the poison of the manioc or Janipha Manihot. 



Ill 



