Matses women painting each other with annatto (achiote) red dye.
You can see the woman on the left with the seed pod of
Bixa orellana in her left hand from which the red dye is obtained.
Bixa orellana is a tree that is native to the Amazon River Basin and the only
member of the family Bixaceae. The tree grows about thirty feet tall and has red
flowers about two inches wide. The green seed pods are about three inches
long and contain the red dye.
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