Bixa orellana L.

English: Annatto, Lipstick Tree

German: Achiote, Annato, Orleanbaum, Urucum

Mandarin: 红木 (hong mu)

Portuguese: Urucum

Kingdom: Plantae (2625)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2528)

    Class: Magnoliopsida (2137)

      Order: Malvales (80)

        Family: Bixaceae (2)(family description)

          Genus: Bixa (1)

            Epithet: orellana L. (1)

Synonyms: Bixa acuminata Boj., Bixa americana Poir., Bixa katangensis Delpierre, Bixa odorata Ruiz & Pav. ex G.Don, Bixa orleana Noronha, Bixa platycarpa Ruiz & Pav., Bixa purpurea Sweet, Bixa tinctaria Salisb., Bixa tinctoria Salisb., Orellana americana (Poir.) Kuntze, Orellana orellana (L.) Kuntze

acuminata => long pointed

americana => from America

katangensis => from the former southeastern Katanga province of Congo

odorata => sweet-smelling

orellana => in reference to Maranhão, Brazil (formerly Orelhana named after Francisco de Orellana [c. 1500 - c. 1549] a Spanish explorer and conquistador)

platycarpa => flat or broad fruit

purpurea => purple

tinctoria => used for dyeing

Climate: tropical

Habitat: mesophytic

Habit: shrub, tree

Flower colour: pink, white

Check for Bixa orellana at

World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI

• [199] Bixa orellana - Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
• [1232] Bixa - Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database
• [1517] Bixa orellana - Flora of China @ efloras.org