The use of medicinal plants to cure ailments has been practiced since ancient times (Aslam and Afridi, 2018). The selection of plants for drug development has been a tradition since historical times as they contain bioactive and medicinally useful compounds, such as alkaloids and terpenoids, and currently 28,187 plant species are registered as having medicinal uses (Willis, 2017 ). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Bixa orellana belonging to the Bixaceae family commonly known as "annatto" or "lipstick tree" native to South America, Central America and the Caribbean islands is a tropical ornamental plant with traditional uses. In Asia the plant is cultivated mainly in India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. In India the plant is popularly known as 'Sinduri' or 'latkan' and its English name is 'annatto' while in German it is called 'orlean'. The plant is cultivated mainly for the seed which produces red-orange powder, of which Brazil, Peru and the United States are the major producers and exporters; while Western Europe and Japan are the main markets. Water-soluble norbixin extract, vegetable oil extracts and solvent-extracted bixin are in high demand worldwide and together with the roots, bark and leaves are used in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The introduction of new drugs of natural origin has attracted attention in identifying (C Kumar and Pandey, 2015; A Pandey et al, 2017), exploring and conserving various medicinal plants (G Pandey et al, 2017, H Pandey , 2018, E Pandey et al, 2018), with new bioactive compounds and potential to prepare drug formulations (B Pandey, 2017, D Pandey, 2017, F Pandey et al, 2017). It therefore becomes necessary to evaluate the morphological characteristics and phytochemical investigations for the standardization of the quality of this popular plant species on a socio-economic and global level. Therefore this study was designed for morphological evaluation, phytochemical evaluation and traditional uses of the plant. The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a height of 2 to 8 m. The leaves are simple, opposite with a sharp apex and base and an average size of 7.5 cm in length and 4.6 cm in width (Radhika et al 2010), stipulated and arranged in a spiral, scaly in the young phase and become glabrous at maturity. Fresh leaves and leaf powder are green in color with a slightly bitter taste (Radhika et al 2010). The bark is hard, smooth and light or dark brown in color. Pedunculated flowers, branched terminal panicles with from 8 to 50 flowers, scented, 4-6 cm in diameter; scaly pedicel, enlarged at the apex, bearing 5-6 large glands; having 4 to 5 free and obovate sepals, caduceus and covered with scales; the petals are 4 to 7, obovate with scaly peduncles; infinite stamens; pistil 1.6 cm long with superior ovary; 12-15mm long style; bilobed stigma. The plants produce three different shades of flowers, namely pink, purple and white, which turn into red, greenish-red and green fruits. Based on these characteristics along with the pigment profile, three varieties of fruits were observed: red ovate, red-greenish conical and green hemispherical and among these varieties of red ovate fruits were found to be superior in all morphological aspects (Akshatha et to 2011). Flowering occurs mainly in spring and fruiting in the summer season. The fruits are spherical or ovoid capsules, bivalve; oval, angular and numerous seeds with a bright red-orange coat. The plant requires a sunny, humid climate with an average temperature and 2015).