212 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



in length. The roots are bent three times, and there are 

 about fifty or sixty in each bundle. Munjeet is often called 

 Chay-root ; but this is a mistake, the latter being the pro- 

 duce of a totally different plant. "We receive from sixty to 

 eighty tons per annum, all from the East Indies. The uses 

 of this root are the same as common madder. 



Chay Root. — Under this name two different kinds of 

 root are occasionally imported from India. 



1. The true Chay or Che root, which somewhat resembles 

 Munjeet but is rounder and more brittle. It is the root of 

 Oldenlandia umbellata (Nat. Ord. Rubiacece), a native of 

 sandy soils in Java and Coromandel ; it is much cultivated 

 in the latter place, where its roots strike very deep in sandy 

 soil. It is used to dye red, purple, and a fine orange- 

 brown. The colouring matter resides entirely in the bark 

 of the root ; the inner portion is white and pithy. 



2. The roots of several species of Morinda, or Indian 

 Mulberry (Nat. Ord. Rubiacece). They yield a red dye. 



Morinda umbellata is a small bushy tree, a native of 

 Ceylon and Malacca; the thinnest roots yield a bright 

 red dye. This is the Mangkudu root of Malacca. 



Morinda tinctoria, the Ach root of Central India, is a 

 very short tree, with a large bushy head supported on a 



