CHAPTER XIII 



DYES 



Habitat. 



Description 

 of the tree. 



The fruit. 

 The seeds. 



The dye. 



Different 

 spelling. 



History of 

 the dye. 



ANATTO. Bixa Orellana 



THE plant producing the anatto dye is a native of the 

 West Indies and other parts of tropical America, and it is 

 now cultivated in the Eastern tropics, as well as in Mauritius 

 and Reunion. It is a small shrubby tree of a hardy charac- 

 ter, growing to the height of from eight to twelve feet or 

 more, with heart-shaped leaves, and bearing at the ends of 

 the branches loose bunches of handsome rose-coloured 

 flowers. The fruit consists of mitre-shaped capsules, covered 

 with soft spinules, and splitting into two valves, on the inside 

 of which are attached from thirty to forty seeds covered with 

 a thin coating of reddish waxy pulp, called botanically the 

 testa. This waxy substance, when removed from the seeds 

 is the dye known as anatto. The name, however, is spelt 

 and pronounced in a variety of different ways, the principal 

 of which are, arnatto, annatto, annota, and arnotta ; but the 

 usually accepted form of spelling by authorities on the sub- 

 ject is that placed at the head of this chapter. 



The use of the dye was well known to the fierce and 

 warlike Caribs who inhabited the islands of the lesser An- 

 tilles, and portions of Guiana, when America was discovered 

 by Columbus. These Indians called the dye roucou, the 

 name now applied to it and the plant bearing it by the 

 French, and hence erroneously believed by some to be a 



