'Lipstick Tree' Seeds
Bixa orellana
 
Organic | Open Pollinated
 
Evergreen shrub/small tree 2 - 5m
Pinkish/lilac and white flowers
Clusters of bristly heart shaped red fruit
Large, glossy, heart shaped foliage
Used as a natural food colouring
Drought and frost tender
 
Also known as Achiote or Annatto
 
Lipstick Tree is a beautiful, dense evergreen shrub/small tree 2-5m, with a rounded crown and large, glossy, heart shaped foliage. The tree produces pinkish/lilac and white flowers throughout summer and clusters of bristly red fruit pods borne along the branches. The trunk may be up to 10 cm in diameter. The bark is pale to dark brown in colour, sometimes fissured and lenticellate. When fully mature, the fruit splits open, to reveal lots of dark red seeds. Widely cultivated for its intensely red seeds, that are popular as a spice and commercial food colourant.
 
Native to South America and naturalised across Queensland. 
 
In the ideal conditions, this tree can grow 6-10m.