Plant · P-952

Annatto

Bixa orellana

Annatto is a small tropical evergreen tree or shrub grown for the red-orange dye pigment bixin coating its seeds - the source of the food colouring and body paint used across its native range for centuries. It wants full sun on well-drained fertile ground and a frost-free climate with year-round warmth; it will not tolerate cold. Its seeds also carry mild edible and medicinal use and the tree begins bearing fruit within its first two years. Its ripe pods split open explosively and the bird-carried seed can lie dormant in the soil for over a year - left unpicked it self-sows freely - so harvesting the capsules for their dye and edible seed before they split keeps volunteers down.