Lawsonia inermis L.
Henna / Pacar kuku/Inai (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial evergreen shrub or small tree that can grow up to 7 m tall. Leaves are simple, oppositely arranged and subsessile. Leaf blade is elliptic to broadly lanceolate, acute at apex, attenuate at base with entire margin and pinnate venation. Stems are much-branched and glabrous. Branches are quadrangular when young turning spiny when mature. Barks are grey brown. Flowers are numerous, fragrant and white or red. Inflorescence a terminal cyme. Fruit a globose capsule that contains many
The local healers use the plant for stomach and intestine complaints. The rhizomes are washed, boiled with three cups of water until the volume is reduced into half the original volume. The rhizome parts are strained off before consuming the decoction.
It grows on the edge of forests, along coastal areas, along creeks and estuaries. It prefers fertile, moist but well-drained loamy soil under full sunlight.
Stem cutting and seeds.
Native to northern Africa, western and southern Asia and
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