STANDLEY TEEES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 835 



Shrub or small tree, 2 to 9 meters high; leaves alternate, long-petiolate. 

 broadly ovate, mostly 8 to 20 cm. long, acuminate, truncate, or rounded at base, 

 entire, minutely lepidote beneath ; flowers perfect, in terminal panicles, pink ; 

 sepals 5, imbricate, deciduous; petals 5, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; fruit a capsule, 

 subglobose or ovoid, 2 to 3.5 cm. long, covered with long spinelike bristles, or 

 rarely smooth ; seeds numerous, with a fleshy, bright orange covering. 

 "Achiote" (MichoacSn, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Veracruz, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Guate- 

 mala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador ; from the Nahuatl 

 achiotl) ; " achiotillo " (Tabasco); " ffrnato," " urucu " (Yucatan); "chancan- 

 guarica," " pumacua " (Morelos, Ramirez); " bixa " or " bija " (Panama, 

 Colombia, Cuba) ; " achuete " (Philippines, a corruption of achiote) ; " achote " 

 (Guatemala, Colombia) ; " onoto " (Colombia, Venezuela) ; •' cacicuto " (Cuba) ; 

 " rocou " (Guiana) ; " bichet " (Carib, women) ; " ematabi " (Carib, men). 



The arnotto tree or shrub is one of the best known of tropical American 

 plants because of the yellow-red dye obtained from the fruit. This dye has long 

 been employed by the aborigines and is now an article of commerce, and the 

 plant is frequently cultivated. In order to obtain the coloring matter the seed 

 pods are crushed and thrown in water, whereupon it is dissolved. The liquid 

 is then strained, the coloring matter settles to the bottom, the water is drawn 

 off, and the sediment is formed into cakes, in which form the dyestufE is 

 shipped. Sometimes the fruits are placed in water and allowed to ferment, 

 during which process the dyestuff separates and settles. The dye; is used for 

 coloring silk and cotton orange-yellow, but the color is said to be fugitive. It is 

 employed extensively for coloring cheese and butter, as well as oils and varnish. 

 Large quantities are imported into Europe and the United States, tlie supply 

 coming largely from South America. In tropical America arnotto (written also 

 anatto, and in various other forms) is employed for coloring food, especially 

 rice, and for flavoring chocolate and other articles. By the Indians it has been 

 and still is employed extensively for painting the face and body, partly for 

 ornament and partly to prevent the attacks of mosquitoes and other insects. 

 At an early date the plant was introduced into the Pacific islands, and the 

 natives there soon learned to use the dye for painting their bodies. The color- 

 ing properties of the dye are dependent upon two principles, bixin and orellin. 



The wood is described as nearly white, porous, and very soft, with a specific 

 gravity of 0.399. It is of little or no use. The Indians employed it to obtain 

 fire by friction. The stems, crushed and thrown in water, yield a gum some- 

 what resembling gum arabic. The bark contains a strong fiber, from which 

 cordage is sometimes made. 



Arnotto is much used in domestic medicine in tropical America. Astringent, 

 febrifuge, antidysenteric, diuretic, aphrodisiac, and other properties are 

 ascribed to it and it is employed for venereal diseases, erysipelas, intermittent 

 fevers, epilepsy, and other affections. The pulp, if applied immediately to 

 burns, is said to prevent the formation of blisters or scars. The leaves are 

 applied as poultices to relieve headache. A decoction of them is employed as 

 a gargle for sore throat. The seeds are said to be tlie best antidote for poison- 

 ing by yuca agria or yuca brava (Manihot). 



Heckel ' states that in Madagascar, where the plant is cultivated, the Mala- 

 gaclies who have to speak or dance in public take an infusion of the leaves to 

 make themselves bold and courageous. In Brazil the pulp of the seeds has been 

 given to bulls about to appear in the ring in order to make them more lively 

 and dangerous. It may be that the plant contains some excitant principle 

 which has not yet been investigated. 



The specific name of the arnotto plant, orellana, was given in honor of Don 

 Francisco Orellana, the disloyal but famous comrade of Pizarro, and discoverer 



' Les plantes utiles de Madagascar, p. 183. 1910. 



