| Madder | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Common Madder (Rubia tinctorum) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Rubiaceae |
| Tribe: | Rubieae |
| Genus: | Rubia |
| Species: | R cordifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Rubia cordifolia L. |
|
Rubia cordifolia is a plant species of Rubiaceae, the madder family, also known as Common (or Indian) Madder. It has been cultivated for a red pigment derived from roots.
Description
It can grow to 1.5 m in height. The evergreen leaves are 5-10 cm long and 2-3 cm broad, produced in whorls of 4-7 starlike around the central stem. It climbs with tiny hooks at the leaves and stems. The flowers are small (3-5 mm across), with five pale yellow petals, in dense racemes, and appear from June to August, followed by small (4-6 mm diameter) red to black berries. The roots can be over a metre long, up to 12 mm thick. It prefers loamy soils with a constant level of moisture. Madders are used as food plants for the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Hummingbird hawk moth.
Uses
Rubia cordifolia was an economically important source of a red pigment in many regions of Asia, Europe and Africa. It was extensively cultivated from antiquity until the mid nineteenth century. The plant's roots contain an organic compound called Alizarin, that gives its red colour to a textile dye known as Rose madder. It was also used as a colourant , especially for paint, that is referred to as Madder lake. The substance was also derived other species; Rubia tinctorum, also widely cultivated, and the asiatic species Rubia argyi (H. Léveillé & Vaniot) H. Hara ex Lauener (synonym = Rubia akane Nakai[1], based on the Japanese Aka (アカ or あか) = red, and ne (ネ or ね) = root). The invention of a synthesized duplicate, an anthracene compound called alizarin, greatly reduced demand for the natural derivative.[2]
The roots of Rubia cordifolia are also the source of a medicine used in Ayurveda, this is commonly known in Ayurvedic Sanskrit as Manjistha (or Manjista or Manjishta) and the commercial product in Hindi as Manjith.[3]
References
- ^ Iwatsuki, K., T. Yamazaki, D. E. Boufford and H. Ohba. 1993. Flora of Japan IIIa: 232.
- ^ "Material Name: madder". material record. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. November 2007. http://cameo.mfa.org/browse/record.asp?subkey=5686. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ R. Daman, S. Bhandari, B. Singh and Brij Lal; S. Pathania (2006). "Comparative Studies of Rubia cordifolia L. and its Commercial Samples". Ethnobotanical Leaflets (11): 179–188.. http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/rubia.htm.
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