Alkanet
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| Alkanet | ||||||||||||
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| Missing image Alkanna_tinctoria2.jpg Alkanna tinctoria Dyer's Bugloss | ||||||||||||
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The name alkanet generally refers to Alkanna tinctoria or Dyer's Bugloss (though it may be used for Anchusa officinalis or Common Bugloss).
It is a member of the Borage family Boraginaceae.
Alkanna tinctoria is also known as orchanet, dyer's bugloss, Spanish bugloss or bugloss of Languedoc. Its name comes from the Spanish word alcana, from Arabic al-hena, after henna, (Lawsonia inermis).
Alkanet is grown in the south of France and on the shores of the Levant. Its root yields a fine red colouring matter which has been used as a cloth dye and to tint tinctures, oils, wines, varnishes, etc. It is commonly used today as a food colouring.
It was listed in the 1918 U.S. Dispensatory. [1] (http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/usdisp/alkanna.html)