Description

• Henna, or Mehndi as it is called in Hindi, is a symbol of festivity in India. It is especially associated with marriage in north India.
• Henna is a tall shrub or small tree, standing 6-25 ft tall. It is hairless and multi-branched, with spine-tipped branchlets.
• The leaves grow opposite each other on the stem.
• They are hairless, nearly-stalkless, elliptical, and lance shaped, tapering, and have depressed veins on the underside. Henna flowers have four sepals and a 2 mm sepal-cup tube, with 3 mm spread sepals.
• Its petals are ovate, with white or red stamens. Henna fruits are small, brownish capsules, 4-8 mm in diameter.

Uses

• Medicinal-Henna a well knownethnomedicinal plant used cosmetically and medicinally in the Indian traditional folk medicines for thousand years.
• Root is used as abortifacient, to treat leprosy, skin diseases, dysmenorrhoea and premature greying of hair.
• The leaves are used as an astringent or as a prophylactic against skin diseases and the bark is useful in the treatment of jaundice, enlargement of the spleen, calculus affection and skin diseases
• The paste of ground leaves has been used to colour skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. The flowers and fruits are used in perfumery.