Taxon: Bixa orellana L.

Genus:

Bixa

Family:

Bixaceae

Nomen number:

7249

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:512. 1753

Link to protologue:

Typification:

Name Verified on:

20-may-1992 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last Changed: 10-oct-2018

Species priority site is:

Natl. Germplasm Repository - Miami (MIA)

Accessions:

6 in National Plant Germplasm System (GoogleMap)

Synonyms:

(=) Bixa orellana var. leiocarpa (Kuntze) Standl. & L. O. Williams
(=) Orellana americana var. leiocarpa Kuntze

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: pers. comm.) - French
roucouyer (Source: pers. comm.) - French
Anattostrauch (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
Orleansstrauch (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
açafroa (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese
açafroeira-da-terra (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
colorau (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
urucú (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
urucú-bravo (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
urucum (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
achiote (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
achote (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
annato (Source: F VenGuay) - Spanish
bija (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
annatto (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

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)

Distributional Range:

Native

Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Sinaloa]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatan]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: 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

Cultivated

(widely cult. in tropics)

Naturalized

(widely natzd. elsewhere in tropics)

References:

Webster's third new international dictionary. 1961 (Websters Dict)
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45. 1993 (L Peru)
Cannon, J. & M. Cannon Dye plants and dyeing. The Herbert Press & The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1994 (Dye Pl)
Feuillet, C. 1998. pers. comm. (pers. comm.)
Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. (pers. comm.)
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium Hortus third. 1976 (Hortus 3)
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000 (Herbs Commerce ed2)
McVaugh, R. Flora Novo-Galiciana. 1983- (F NGalicia)
Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
Steyermark, J. A. et al., eds. Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. 1995- (F VenGuay)
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. Flora of Panama. 1943-1980 (F Panama)

Check other web resources for Bixa orellana L. :

TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Databas of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
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.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=7249. Accessed 7 junio 2026.