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 umlellata (Nat. Ord. Ruiiacece), 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. Ruhiacece), They yield a red dye. 



Morinda umlellata 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 



