CHAPTER XXIII 

 MINOR PRODUCTS OF CEYLON 



[S=SIXHALESE: T=TAMIL] 



Annatto or Arnatto. (BLva Orellcinci. Bixaceae). A large, 

 quick-growing shrub or small tree, native of tropical America, 

 thriving in Ceylon from sea-level to 2,000 feet in the moist region. 

 It bears at the ends of the branches clusters of brown or dark 

 crimson capsular fruits (covered with fleshy spines), which 

 contain a number of small seeds. The bright crimson covering of 

 the latter affords the annatto dye of commerce. The fruits are 

 collected when nearly ripe, and as the shells dry they open and 

 disperse the seeds, which are then either made into annatto "paste," 

 or dried with their covering when they are marketed as annatto 

 " seed." Formerly the paste form was preferred by manufacturers, 

 but the demand for this has now much declined in favour of the 

 dried seed. The amount of annatto seed imported into England 

 is said to be from 75 to 100 tons a year; the price fluctuates 

 from about 2id to 5d per lb., according to quality and demand. 

 Small plantations of Annatto have been made in Ceylon, chiefly in 

 the Matale district, and at one time a considerable quantity of the 

 seed was exported; now, however, very little is exported, but the 

 seed is sometimes used locally for dyeing. The export of Annatto 

 seed from Ceylon in 1909 was 263 cwt., valued at 307; but the 

 Customs give no figures for 1912. The tree is readily propagated 

 from seed, and a crop may be obtained from the third or fourth 

 year. Two varieties of the tree occur in Ceylon, these differing 

 chiefly in the shape and colour of the fruit, which in one case is 

 oblong and pointed, and in the other rather circular. 



Areca-nut, or Betel-nut; " Puwak." S; " Pak-ku," T; " Pan " 

 \_Hind.~\\ (Areca Catechu. Palmae). A tall, slender, erect palm, 40 to 

 50 feet high, with a thin cylindrical straight stem, native of Malaya, 

 but naturalised in Ceylon. It is extensively cultivated throughout 

 tropical Asia for its "nuts " (seeds), which in the husk are usually of 

 the size and form of a hen's egg, being yellow or orange-yellow when 



