Sunday 30 March 2008

white red green blue alkanet

green alkanet is a handsome plant with a vivid blue flower. The naming of the plant seems to suggest some degree of colour confusion; the name alkanet is thought to derive from the arabic al henna (arabic is very guttural) for red from the red dye extracted from its roots; I would have called it blue alkanet myself. Growing alongside this plant is a very unusual white variant, no doubt best called the white green blue red alkanet. The leaves are deeply fissured and the plant is described as "roughly hairy".

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