Description

botanical name ( Bixa orellana ) This is an erect shrub with large, glossy green, prominently veined leaves that can become a small tree several feet tall. It is grown as a garden ornamental less for its pale pink flowers, which last only one day, than for its highly decorative two-valved seed pods, covered with soft, deep red hairs. When used as a hedge or screen, it should be pruned often to encourage bush growth at the bottom of the trunk.