Alkanna Lehmann – Perennial herbaceous low plant of the borage family – Boraginaceae.
Description:
The rhizome is short, a slightly branched stem with linear leaves and the main root 10-15 cm long and 1-2 cm thick, purple-red, depart from it. The flowers are small, bright blue / light blue, with a tubular-bell-shaped corolla, collected in inflorescences. The surface of the plant is covered with fine hairs. It grows in the countries of the Mediterranean and Central Europe.
Contains active substances:
The roots contain esters of 1,4-naphthoquinones – mainly alkannin and shikonin.
Medicinal use:
It serves as a raw material for food dyes, tinting food oils, medicinal forms, in microdiagnostics for the detection of fatty and essential oils, in cosmetics. In folk medicine, an ointment is prepared from the root of this plant, which is effective in treating all kinds of skin diseases, wounds, cracks. This plant is also used in homeopathy.