Taxon: Bixa orellana L.

See also subordinate taxa:

• Bixa orellana var. leiocarpa (no accessions)

Common names:

• annatto   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• arnatto   (Source: Websters Dict ) – English
  
• lipsticktree   (Source: Hortus 3 ) – English
  
• atole   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• roucou   (Source: C. Feuillet, p.c.) – French
  
• roucouyer   (Source: C. Feuillet, p.c.) – French
  
• Anattostrauch   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• Orleansstrauch   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• açafroa   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  
• açafroeira-da-terra   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• colorau   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• urucú   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• urucú-bravo   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• urucum   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• achiote   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• achote   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• annato   (Source: F VenGuay ) – Spanish
  
• bija   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• annatto   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Food additives: coloring   (fide F Panama; F VenGuay)
  
• Materials: tannin/dyestuff   (fide Dye Pl)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2)
  

More:

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• NORTHERN AMERICA
  Northern Mexico: Mexico - Sinaloa
  Southern Mexico: Mexico - Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatan
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Mesoamerica: Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama
  Northern South America: French Guiana; Guyana; Suriname; Venezuela
  Brazil: Brazil
  Western South America: Bolivia [n.]; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru

• widely naturalized elsewhere in tropics

• widely cultivated in tropics

References:

• PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
• Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica.
• Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
• Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45.
• Cannon, J. & M. Cannon. 1994. Dye plants and dyeing. The Herbert Press & The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
• Dodson, C. H. & A. H. Gentry. 1978. Flora of the Rio Palenque science center.
• Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
• Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage.
• Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca.
• Feuillet, C. 1998. pers. comm. [re. French common names].
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
• Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973–. Flora of Ecuador.
• Howard, R. 1974–1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
• León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946–1962. Flora de Cuba.; suppl. 1969
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
• Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2.
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
• McVaugh, R. 1983–. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• Roosmalen, M. G. van. 1977. Surinaams vruchtenboek.
• Spellman, D. L. et al. A list of the monocotyledoneae/dicotyledonae of Belize. Rhodora v. 77 & 83, 1975 & 1981
• Spichiger, R., ed. 1985–. Flora del Paraguay.
• Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946–1976. Flora of Guatemala.
• Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948–. Flora malesiana.
• Steyermark, J. A. et al., eds. 1995–. Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana.
• Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa.
• Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943–1980. Flora of Panama.
• Webster's third new international dictionary.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Bixa orellana.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Bixa orellana.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Bixa orellana.

Synonyms:

• Orellana americana var. leiocarpa Kuntze [≡ Bixa orellana var. leiocarpa]
  

Check other web resources for Bixa orellana L.:

• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• PROTABASE: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa's (PROTA's) online resource
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

• GRIN Images of germplasm accessions.
• Embryo drawing: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Fruit: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image
• Seeds: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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