Valuable Plants

Of Fiji

Notes on the Qisa Bush

By H. B. R. Parham

THE Qisa ( Orellana Bixa), better known as the Annatto of commerce, is a very well-grown and interesting bush in Fiji.

Although its usual height does not ex ceed 10 or 12 feet, it sometimes attains to 20 feet. Very few insects attack the leaves, which are of an attractive green.

The flowers are pretty—larger than the wild rose of England, but similar in col our and shape, being rose-pink and white.

But it is the capsuled fruit that is of import, since it is of value for its dyeing properties. Its use in dairy work is well known, but it is also esteemed as a dye for textile goods. Its qualities in this direction have been tested and proved to be excellent.

As a dye Annatto has long been used.

The Europeans, who first visited America, found the Indians using the berries as the old-time Fijians did, to paint their bodies.

In an ancient book, more than a century old the following interesting remarks occur:— “The brilliant and showy colour of the berries of the Annatto tree attracted the attention of the settlers, who not only ap plied it to their own uses, but likewise con verted it very speedily into an article of commerce.”

It might well become an article of com merce in Fiji to-day if its market value were more generally known, for the stems are fibrous and make good cordage.

“This tree (continued the book) pro duces large crops of bristled pods, which are at first of a beautiful rose colour, but turn to a dark brown when ripe, when they burst open, and display a splendid farina or pulp in which are contained 30 or 40 seeds, similar in shape to raisin seeds.”

The colouring matter of Annatto is said to consist of two colouring principles— “Orellin,” which is yellow, soluble in water, and which gives a yellow colour to cloth when mordanted, and “bixin,” which when pure forms a cinnabar-red powder, easily dissolved by alkaline solution.

A variety of shades, both yellow and red, are produced with the help of vinegar, alum, lemon-juice, etc.

It makes a good dye for silks and thin materials, but is not recommended for cloth. It can be altered by certain com binations into orange, deep orange, and tango, but this is not a fitting place for fuller chemical details.

Another dye-plant is the Mavunitoga (Antiario Bcnnettii) of the order Artocar peae. This, possibly, is not indigenous, for the name used in the vernacular means the Tongan Mavu. The tree, however, has for long been at home in Fiji, and in olden times was frequently planted near heathen temples ( bure kalou).

Its beautiful foliage and large bright crimson drupes should make it popular with garden-lovers, and also with those who are aiming at making the Fiji motor roads “things of beauty.”

Then there is the Lauci ( Aleurites Mo luccaiia), belonging to the Euphorhiaceae, and which has many names in the Fijian.

It is Sekeci in one place, Tuitui in another, and Qereqere in yet another; while Euro peans call it the Candle-nut. Beyond many other uses, it produces an excellent black paint or dye. The tree grows readily, and is at home in almost any situation. It is practically in flower all the vear through, but is in its fullest bloom in October.