Mignonette - Lawsonia inermis

Common Name :	Mignonette, Mehedi, Hena, Mehendi, etc.
Botanical Name :	Lawsonia inermis
Family :	Lythraceae
Bangla Name :	Mehedi, Mendi.
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh

We had a Mignonette (Lawsonia inermis) tree in our village home, Bangladesh. Interestingly the height of the plant seemed always same to me every year, kind of fixed. That tree survived over 15 years, even though it faced a tough time during the massive flood of 1988. Locally the plant known as Mehedi in Bangladesh. Today I am going to write a short note about Mignonette.







Mignonette (Lawsonia inermis) has several names in English (Henna, Reseda, Mignoette). In Bangladesh it is known as Mehedi, Mehendi, Mendi, etc. This plant pertains to the plant family Lythraceae(Loosestrife family). Botanical name of the plant is Lawsonia inermis.







In Bangladesh, possibly this flower blooms during the rainy season with all its glory. Flower and the small round seeds from this plant have a nice scent. Flowers are pale white in color and having six stamens with yellow filament. Ovary is at the middle with a stigma. Petals are wavy and crepe. Flowers are having as a bunch from the pinnacle of a brunch. During rainy season, using the a cutting, you can easily propagate to a new one.







This is a perennial plant having small glossy leafs those we have been using years after year from the antiquity to give an exquisite look to our hairs. The extracts from the leafs are being used to strengthen and coloring the hairs. That leaf juice is also responsible for creating a unique color that is using to draw designs over hands (kind of tattooing) known as Hena. Dying beards and coloring the nails are done using that too.







In Bangla this plant is known as Mehedi (মেহেদী) or Mendi (মেন্দি). The flower is known as Mehedi ful (মেহেদী ফুল) or Mendi ful (মেন্দি ফুল).



This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog https://icflora.blogspot.com/