Lawsonia inermis is a glabrous, highly branched shrub or small tree (2–6 m tall) with fragrant flowers and lawsone-rich leaves that produce a red-orange dye.
Henna (Lawsonia inermis, family Lythraceae) is a slender, much-branched evergreen shrub or small tree, usually up to 6 metres tall and occasionally 12 metres, with older stems that can be spiny. It is one of the oldest cosmetics in the world, with written records of its use going back more than 2,500 years: its leaves are used to colour the fingernails, decorate the palms and soles and dye the hair. It is of great importance in Islam, especially at weddings, a use since adopted in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is grown widely in the tropics and subtropics as a dye plant and as an ornamental for its strongly scented flowers, which smell like tea roses. There are two main forms, one with creamy white flowers and one with light red.
It comes originally from India and is naturalised in dry coastal scrub, river beds that flood from time to time, riverside thickets, hillsides and rock crevices. It grows up to 2,000 metres, best at 19 to 27°C with 500 to 1,500 mm of rain a year, and is very drought tolerant once established. It needs sun and grows on poor, stony and sandy soils as well as heavy, fertile clays, but it takes a lot of nutrients from the soil. As a crop it is kept to about 70 cm tall and cut twice a year from the second year; plants yield best for their first four to eight years but are often left for 12 to 15. The hard seed is soaked for three to seven days and kept moist and warm until it swells before sowing, and cuttings root easily.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
The plant is widely used in traditional medicine for treating skin infections, wounds, digestive disorders, headaches, insomnia, hair problems, and certain sexually transmitted infections.
Although not a common food plant, its seeds and leaves are occasionally used in small amounts in traditional remedies for digestive ailments.
Henna is culturally significant as a body art dye for rituals and celebrations, symbolizing joy, fertility, and protection, and is also used for dyeing hair and textiles.
It is cultivated in hot, dry climates on well-drained soils, propagated by seeds or cuttings, and harvested multiple times yearly for its dye-rich leaves.