Bixa orellana (Bixaceae Family;  Kichwa: manduru; Shuar: Ipiak )  is a primary agent of beauty in the traditions of the Runa and Shuar communities of eastern Ecuador.   Its fruit produces a bright red dye that is used as a face paint.  So beautiful and mysterious is this dye that it is believed to be an agent of creation.  In Runa origin stories Manduru Warmi (Bixa orellana) was once a sensuous human girl. After Manduru and her sister Huituc (Genipa americana) mature through a series of amorous misadventures they turn into the trees that impart beauty and mystery to other species: Bixa orellana, the source of red face paint and Genipa americana, the source of black face paint.  The two sisters then transform the various beginning time people into variuous species of plants and animals by painting them various shades of red, reddish brown, and black.