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Bixa orellana
Tree is of medium height. Bears red seedpods.
Forest.
Also called Achiote. What is interesting about this tree is it is a source of herbal vermillion or sindur that married Hindu women wear in the parting of their hair to denote their marital status. Wikipedia tells me it is also used to make lipstick and body colour: and why not...such a lovely shade of red. Flowers of India adds: The seeds are processed to obtain the orange-yellow pigments, bixin and norbixin (caratenoids), as dye for the food, cosmetic and soap industries. This dye is used to color the cheddar cheese and is also used for the coloring of rice. http://www.virtualherbarium.org/gl/bixa/... This blog talks about this tree in Nepal. http://tasteofnepal.blogspot.in/2013/06/...
Spotted on Nov 23, 2015
Submitted on Dec 21, 2015
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