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Bixa orellana
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Family:
BIXACEAE
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Citation: Bixa orellana L., Sp. Pl. 512. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 252. 1827; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 51(36). 1915; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 35. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 72. 1984; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 48. 1988; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 67. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 25. 1990; N.P. Balakr. in B.D. Sharma & N.P. Balakr., Fl. India 2: 381. 1993; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 59. 1994; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 56. 1997; N.P. Balakr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 257. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 96. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 119. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Monkey-mailanchi, Kunkumam, Kurangumanjal, Sindooram
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Annatto, Lipstick tree
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Description:
Shrubs or small evergreen trees, 2-9 m high; young branches densely dark scaly; wood pale yellow, soft. Leaves alternate, ovate, subcordate or truncate at base, long-acuminate at apex, 7-24 x 4-16 cm, shining above, densely red- dotted, initially scaly beneath, glabrous later; lateral nerves 4 or 5 pairs; petioles slender, 4-10 cm long, stipules 5-6 mm long. Inflorescence a terminal corymb or panicle, 8-50 flowered, scaly; pedicels 7-10 mm long. Flowers 3-5 cm across. Sepals broadly ovate to suborbicular, concave, scaly, purple. Petals 5-7, unequal, obovate, rounded at apex, 2-3 x 1-2 cm, pink. Stamens many; filaments slender, yellow at base, red at apex; anthers purple. Ovary densely covered with thick red bristles; style 12-15 mm long, swollen above, red. Capsules globose or broadly ovoid, nearly truncate at base, abruptly short-acuminate at apex or elongate-ovate with narrowly long-acuminate apex, 2-4 x 1.5-3.5 cm, with dense long stiff but soft and flexible bristles, green when young, brownish red with age; seeds obpyramidal, ca 5 x 4-5 mm, orange-red.
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Habit:
Shrub to Small Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
June-November
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Grown as ornamental plant
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Distribution:
Originally from Tropical America; now widespread in the tropics
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
White, Pink
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
Yes
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Taliparamba, Olakettiyambalam, Karimpuzha
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