Cassia and henna

[Monique Reed]

My source (Mabberley) lists henna as being derived from Lawsonia 
inermis--Lythraceae, and Cassia didymobotrya as a green manure in Asia.  (C. 
tora is listed as a mordant for blue dye in India.....)Lagerstroemia species 
are listed for wood uses and flowers (crape myrtle).

There!  I've muddied the issue even more!

M. Reed
Texas A&M

>Does anyone here know 
exactly what the Arabian dye called henna has to do with>the plant genus 
Cassia, perhaps C.didymobotrya? I know that Lagerstroemia is a>source for this 
dye, but a species of Cassia also comes in somewhere... (I have>heared the 
bell, but don't know where the clapper hangs out :-)

>Thanks, Marco
>-- 
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