Trees & Plants

Black henna

Kudhihithi, Vihafilaa, Valu muranga

Indigofera tinctoria L.

Occasional in open areas and homesteads The plant was the main source of the indigo dye used for textile dyeing and printing. Leaves are also used to make hair dye and medicated hair oil. In traditional medicine, the root and leaf decoction is given for abdominal disorders, fever

Details

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uses: The plant was the main source of the indigo dye used for textile dyeing and printing. Leaves are also used to make hair dye and medicated hair oil. In traditional medicine, the root and leaf decoction is given for abdominal disorders, fever, arthritis and all types of toxicities. ×
family: Fabaceae
synonym: Indigofera cinerascens DC., Indigofera indica Lam.
description: Suffrutescent subshrubs; stem adpressed-pubescent. Leaves pinnately × 5-13-foliolate; leaflets opposite, 5-22 5-12 mm, elliptic to obovate, base and apex rounded, darkening on drying. Inflorescence axillary, spicate-racemose, many-flowered. Flowers 5-7 mm long, red; pedicels ca. 1 mm long. Calyx 2-3 mm long, pubescent; lobes narrow lanceolate, acuminate. Petals reddish; standard ca. 4 mm long, suborbicular. Ovary 8-12-ovuled, hairy. Pods 2-3 cm long, ca. 2 mm wide, linear, straight or slightly curved, 8-12-seeded.
native range: The Malaysian Archipelago
distribution: Widely cultivated in the tropics
english names: Black henna · True indigo · Indian maddar
flowering fruiting: July – January
occurrence maldives: Occasional in open areas and homesteads