MORINDA, a genus of plants of the natural order Cinchonacew, section Guettarderu. The following species are the principal known to occur in the East Indies :— Morinda angustifolia, Roxb., Chittagong.
M. bracteata, Roxb., Ganjam, Andaman,E. Archipelago. M. citrifolia, L., Peninsula, Pcgu, Moluccas, Cochin China.
M.'exserta, Roxb., Bun, Uch, Bengal.
M. multiflora, Roxb., Berar.
M. persicmfolia, Buch., Pegu.
M. pubescens, Sin., British India, Mauritius.
M. squarrosa, Buds., Kamrup.
M. tinctoria, Roxb., Uch, all India.
M. tomentosa, Revue. Dekhan.
M. umbellata, L., Courtallum, S. Konkan.
M. vagans, Wall., China.
The bark and root of M. tinctoria and M. citrifolia in India, and M. exserta in Burma, and the root of M. ternifo]ia in Mysore, are employed to form a very valuable red dye, which is fixed with alum. Most of the red turbands of Madras are dyed with the root of the M. umbellata. The Karen prepare their red dyes most uWally from the roots of two or three species. M. citrifolia is cultivated by the Burmese for a dye, but the Karen more commonly use M. extorts, the indigenous species. The colour, though not brilliant, is far more permanent than many other colours.
In many parts the roots of the 3f. umbellata are employed instead of chay-root in dyeing cotton yarn red, but the colour is neither so bright nor so durable. Dr. Ileyne thus describes the process: Take 31 lbs. of white cotton yarn,
and soak it in 11 lbs. of gingelly oil, a strong lye made of the ashes of the milk-hedge, and the yarn steeped in it for four nights being dried in the sun during the day, it is then washed in brackish water and dried in the sun.
Five seers (kutcha, 131 lbs.?) of togara root finely powdered are put into a pot of water together with the yarn, and kept all night over a fire of cow-dung. In the morning it is taken out and dried in the sun ; the same process is repeated for two successive days and nights, which completes the process. It is probable that a superior dye might be obtained if the same niceties were observed as in dyeing with chay root. In Sumatra, the outward parts of the rout, being dried, pounded, and boiled in water, afford a red dye, for fixing which the ashes procured from the stalks of the fruit and midribs of the leaves of the cocoanut are employed. Sometimes the bark or wood of the sahang tree is mixed with these roots. Marsden says that a species with broader leaves does not yield any colouring matter, but is commonly planted in the Malayan Peninsula and in Pulo Penang as a support to the pepper vine.—Roxb. ; Ileyne; Rode; Mars den; Williams; lire ; Tomlinson.