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lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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Posted by Easygoing Sunset zone 13 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 8, 05 at 10:04
| Has anyone ever tried growing "Lawsonia Inermis" aka FRAGRANT HENNA PLANT here in the metro=Phoenix area? The info I read said it is considered to be the most fragrant plant on the face of the earth, and is indeed the henna used to make hair and nail dye. Would love to hear your experiences with it.
Easy |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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- Posted by usha z8AZ,Nscottsdal (My Page) on
Wed, Jun 8, 05 at 20:54
I have grown it in India. I know people in TX that have grown it. I bought the seeds recently--will be starting some myself.
Regarding fragrance-it does not perfume air. When you crunch the leaves, then you can smell them and it smells like henna(I don't know how to describe it) |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Usha, Everything I've read contradicts your statement on the blossoms not having fragrance. Some go into quite a bit of detail. Here is just one example: ------------------------------------------------------------
Henna Blossoms are so fragrant, they've been used in perfumes since 1500 BCE. They were the Prophet Mohammed's favorite scent.
------------------------------------------------------------ The odor of the attar if it is indeed pure, is a balanced combination of tea-like aroma of the leaves and the soft sweetness of the flowers. In the living flower the predominating first note is a bit lighter and sweeter but in the attar the two aromas coexistent in a balanced form. I think that it is virtually impossible to capture many of the most ethereal notes of any living flower as the whole life force of the plant is directly connected to the earth at that time. A well distilled oil can approach this domain but never completely capture it.(at least in my opinion) Perhaps there is the ambience of the environment itself which helps create a mood which cannot exactly be replicated when one leaves that place. When one is standing in the presence of a plant in its natural environment all the five senses are gathering in the impressions of that place and it penetrates very deeply into the heart. ----------------------------------------------------------- Below is a link to a website that goes into quite a bit of detail on Henna. Very interesting reading. Easy |
Here is a link that might be useful: Henna
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Easygoing, I am afraid i have to concur with Usha. The leaves have frangnance only if you crush them. Back home in India we had a huge tree/shrub in our backyard and we used to take the leaves and make a paste out of it and apply it on the palms and feet and it would give out a very pleasant smell and once washed off will leave a dark red color. The smell will last for 2-3 days. Other than that if you walked past it you would not really smell. |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Well, thanks a lot, Easy, now you've got me interested in yet another plant! Nothing like controversy to get me stirred. ;o) Usha and paperwhite, you've mentioned the leaves only being fragrant when crushed, but what about the flowers? Do they have that ethereal scent that Alan's link praised so highly? Is there anything you can compare the scent of either leaves or flowers to? This would seem to be an ideal plant for our dry, hot environment. Why aren't there more of these around? Or are there and I just don't know what I'm seeing? |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Paperwhite, We are not in disagreement on the leaves. It is in the flowers that we are in disagreement. She says they are not fragrant, but every website I've looked up info on this plant, says the flowers are fragrant. I don't even think we are in disagreement, in that. heck, she's grown it, I haven't, so she is probably right. I was just pointing this out to her, seeing if she had any additional input :) Easy |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Unfortunately, one can't trust a report that a flower is fragrant. :-( Only your nose knows. |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| All, I am sorry if i came across harshly. No the flowers do not have any smell if i recall. They are very small, no significant shape to them. |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| So eh, Paperwhite.... How log is your recollection ;) Hehehehe...just teasin ya :) 
Easy
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Usha must be on vacation....
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| Usha must be on vacation or something...haven't seen any posts from her, and she's very quite. I miss her writings :) 
easy
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RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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- Posted by usha z8AZ,Nscottsdal (My Page) on
Thu, Jun 23, 05 at 11:41
I just got back from disneyland!! I have pictures of my daughter as well as plants from there. I am working on posting some pictures for ID soon. Collected the seeds that I could. EZ, if you are looking for fragrant(out of heaven) flowers..look up Artabotrys hexapetalus and Micheli champaca. Perfume is made from them and when you smell them you will know why. Don't grow henna for flowers. It is for leaves only.
usha |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Hi Usha, Hmmm...well, if I end up with red hair, you'll know what i did with it, right? ;) 
Easy
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RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Can some one tell me where to buy henna plant or seeds? |
RE: lawsonia inermis ** fragrant henna plant **
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| Question. I know that henna is a dry loving plant, but I would like to grow it in Illinois. In the summer it can either be really dry and hot or very humid and hot. Will the humidity effect it's growing? I would really love to grow it because i love to do Mindi, and it helps cool you down on those really hot days. |
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