Also 6 saia, 8 shaii, 9 choya, chey, chay-root, shaya-root. [ad. Tamil saya, in other Indian vernaculars shaya, chaya.] The root of the Indian plant Oldenlandia umbellata (N.O. Cinconaceæ), used to give a deep red dye to Indian cottons.
1598. trans. Caesar Frederike (c. 1566), in Hakluyt (Y.). Died with a roote which they call saia.
1727. A. Hamilton, New Acc. E. Ind., I. 370 (Y.). The famous dye called Shaii.
1807. Ann. Reg., 874. The chaya, or red dye-root of the coast.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Cinnamon & Pearls, v. 78. Chay-root, yielding the red dye which figures on Indian chintzes.
1845. Stocqueler, Handbk. Brit. India (1854), 373. The dye-root called chay … which furnished the durable red.
1860. Tennent, Ceylon, II. 55. Choya-roots, a substitute for Madder.
1866. Treas. Bot., 809/1. The celebrated red turbans of Madura are dyed with chayroot.
