Lawsonia Inermis (Henna, Mehndi, Egyptian Privet)
Henna or Hina is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae...
Pali | India
Family Name: Lythraceae
Botanical Name: Lawsonia inermis
Common Name: Henna, Al-Khanna, Al-Henna, Jamaica Mignonette, Mehndi, Mendee, Egyptian Privet, Smooth Lawsonia
Part Used: Flowers, Powdered Leaves, Fruit
Habitat: Scarcely in dry decidious forests, widely cultivated as a hedge plant.
Uses: The roots are bitter, refrigerant, depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue, abortifacient and trichogenous and is useful in burning sensation, leprosy skin diseases and amenorrhoea. It is used in pre mature graying of hair. Henna is widely used for drawing tattoos, arts and designs. Leaves are useful in wounds ulcers strangury cough, bronchitis, dysentery etc. The fruit is thought to have emmenagogue properties.
Introduction
Henna or Hina is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. The word "henna" comes from the Arabic name for the plant, pronounced or colloquially. It is also an islamic name given to girls which means blessed.
It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones. Henna is a tall shrub or small tree, 2–6 m high. It is glabrous, multibranched with spine tipped branchlets. Leaves are opposite, entire, glabrous, sub-sessile, elliptical, and broadly lanceolate (1.5–5.0 cm x 0.5–2 cm), acuminate, having depressed veins on the dorsal surface. During the onset of precipitation intervals, the plant grows rapidly; putting out new shoots, then growth slows. The leaves gradually yellow and fall during prolonged dry or cool intervals. Henna flowers have four sepals and a 2 mm calyx tube with 3 mm spread lobes. Petals are obvate, white or red stamens inserted in pairs on the rim of the calyx tube. Ovary is four celled, style up to 5 mm long and erect. Fruits are small, brownish capsules, 4–8 mm in diameter, with 32–49 seeds per fruit, and open irregularly into four splits. Lawsone content in leaves is negatively associated with the number of seeds in the fruits.
Cultivation and Use
Henna, Lawsonia inermis, produces a burgundy dye molecule, lawsone. This molecule has an affinity for bonding with protein, and thus has been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. Henna's indigenous zone is the tropical savannah and tropical arid zone, in latitudes between 15° and 25° N and S from Africa to the western Pacific rim, and produces highest dye content in temperatures between 35°C and 45°C. It does not thrive where minimum temperatures are below 11°C. Temperatures below 5°C will kill the henna plant. The dye molecule, lawsone, is primarily concentrated in the leaves, and is in the highest levels in the petioles of the leaf. Products sold as "black henna" or "neutral henna" are not made from henna, but may be derived from indigo (in the plant Indigofera tinctoria) or Cassia obovata, and may contain unlisted dyes and chemicals.
Henna is commercially cultivated in western India, Pakistan, Morocco, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Egypt, and Bangladesh. Presently the Pali district of Rajasthan is the most heavily cultivated henna production area in India, with over 100 henna processors operating in Sojat City.
Though henna has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age, henna has had a recent renaissance in body art due to improvements in cultivation, processing, and the emigration of people from traditional henna using regions.
In the King James Version of the Bible, the book Song of Songs / Song of Solomon refers to henna as "camphire." Modern English translations, however, render the word as "henna".
In the Indian subcontinent, there are many variant words such as Mehndi in Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In Kannada it is called as Madarangi. In Telugu (India, Malaysia, USA), it is known as "Gorintaaku." In Malayalam, a language spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, it is known as "Mailanji." In Tamil (South India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) it is called "Marudhaani" and is used as ground fresh leaves rather than as dried powder. It is used in various festivals and celebrations. The paste is left on the skin from a few hours to overnight and the stain can last a few days to a month depending on the quality of the paste, individual skin type and how long the paste is allowed to stay on the skin.
Lawsonia Inermis Herb, Lythraceae, Henna, Al-Khanna, Al-Henna, Jamaica Mignonette, Mehndi, Mendee, Egyptian Privet, Smooth Lawsonia, Burning Sensation, Leprosy Skin Diseases, Amenorrhoea, Pre Mature Graying of Hair, Wounds Ulcers Strangury Cough, Bronchitis, Dysentery, Burgundy Dye Molecule, Lawsone, Sojat City, Henna Herb,
Indian Herbs .
HENNA
The history of henna is a tough one. There are many conflicting stories about where the
first henna was used. However as a plant it has been around for centuries in a variety of hot climes and continues to be used in both traditional Hindi and Muslim countries as well as in the west for a temporary alternative to a life-long permanent tattoo. Countries where henna can be found include India, Pakistan, Syria, Persia, Morocco, Egypt and Iran. The colour of the henna stain varies depending upon country of origin and the quality of plant there grown. The henna that we as a company sell originates from Rajastan India and gives a dark brown-red colour in contrast to many of the Arabian henna’s which have a far redder hue. The natural dyeing properties in henna are tannins
Henna has a variety of names including Mehndi (Hindi), Hinna (Arabic) or Lawsonia Inermis (Latin). Other synonyms include henna, Mehandi, Mehndi, Al-Khanna, Al-henna, Jamaica Mignonette, Egyptian Privet and Smooth Lawsonia
Henna is a small scrub with small, dark green scented leaves. The leaves are dried and ground down into a powder which is finely sieved two or more times through a fine nylon cloth. These filtering process results in removing the coarse fibres from the powder, making what is left finer and easier to use
The art form of henna application varies from one religion to the next. These varying designs meaning different things to each culture, such as good health, fertility, wisdom and spiritual enlightenment. It spans different cultures and religious traditions, thus the wearer’s country of origin easily recognisable. Arabic henna designs are generally large, floral patterns on the hands and feet. Indian henna designs are made up of fine, thin lines for lacy, floral and paisley patterns covering entire hands, forearms, feet and shins. African henna patterns are bold, large geometric shapes, usually black. After the henna paste is removed Africans apply a blackish paste of ashes, ammonia compounds and other corrosives to get the henna stain to turn out blackish. This is poisonous and certainly not recommended, as there have been reported deaths from this procedure. We can only assume the reason they would go to these risky lengths is the natural colour of the henna stains, dark brown to dark orange, does not show up as well on very dark skin.
Henna has some exceptional qualities. Did you know that it has cooling properties, is a great conditioner and staining qualities? If you have ever died your hair with henna powder you would feel your scalp and head to be cold. In India in the summer the soles of feet are painted with henna to cool the sunbaked populous. Likewise when henna is applied to the skin as for a tattoo, again the skin feels cool.
