Flora Medica

Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 72.BIXA.Sepals 5, orbicular, tuberculate at the base, deciduous. Petals5, obovate, entire. Stamens numerous, distinct : filamentsfiliform : anthers ovate. Style single, elongated, so compressedat the apex as to be almost ligulate. Capsule 2-valved, valvesprickly on the outside, bearing a linear placenta internally alongtheir middle. Seeds 8-10, attached to each placenta, surroundedby a farinaceous coloured pulp. Albumen fleshy. Trees withbroad cordate leaves, and dichotomous panicles of large flowers.W. and A.224. B. Orellana Linn. sp. 730. DC. prodr.i. 259. UrucuSloane ii. p. 52. t. 181. The f. i. tropical parts of America,especially near springs and rivulets. (Arnotto.)A small tree with a stem 10 or 12 feet high. Leaves cordate peltate,taper-pointed, smooth and shining, on long stalks. Flowers interminal panicles, pale pink; petals oblong, fleshy; stamens verynumerous, with roundish purple anthers. Fruit hard, bristly, heartshaped,2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds angular, covered with an orangered waxen pulp or pellicle.The latter substance is the arnotto ofthe shops ; it is separated from the seeds by washing. It is chieflyused for staining cheese, and in the preparation of chocolate; but wasreckoned an antidote to the poison of the manioc or Janipha Manihot.Ill