5239 x 3490 px | 44,4 x 29,5 cm | 17,5 x 11,6 inches | 300dpi
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Alkanets Botanical Alkanna tinctoria TAUSCH Lithosfermum tinctorium VAH L Family N O Boraginaceae Medicinal Action and Uses Synonyms Anchusa Dyer s Bugloss Spanish Bugloss Orchanet Part Used Root The name Anchusa is derived from the Greek anchousa paint from the use of the root as a dye The species are hispid or pubescent herbs with oblong entire leaves and bracteated racemes rolled up before the flowers expand The corolla is rather small between funnel and salver shaped usually purplish blue but in some species yellow or whitish the calyx enlarges in fruit The root which is often very large in proportion to the size of the plant yields in many of the species a red dye from the rind Alkanet A tinctoria is cultivated in Central and Southern Europe for its dye which is readily extracted by oils and spirit of wine It is employed in pharmacy to give a red colour to salves etc and in staining wood in imitation of rosewood or mahogany This is done by rubbing it with oil in which the Alkanet root has been soaked About 8 to 10 tons were annually imported from France and Germany The plant is sometimes also cultivated in Britan but by far the greater portion of the Alkanet used here is imported either from the Levant or from the neighbourhood of Montpellier in France Though Alkanet imparts a fine deep red colour to oily substances and to spirit of wine it tinges water with a dull brownish hue Wax tinged with Alkanet and applied to the surface of warm marble stains it flesh colour and sinks deep into the stone It is also used in colouring spurious port wine for which purpose it is perfectly harmless Our British species the Common Alkanet A officinalis is a soft hairy plant with an angular stem narrow lanceolate leaves and forked one sided cymes of violet flowers calyx longer than the funnel shaped corolla It is an occasional escape from gardens It is a biennial and flowers from June to July The Evergreen Alkanet A sempervireus is also found in Great Britain This is a stout bri
