Persicaria tinctoria is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. Common names include Chinese indigo, Japanese indigo and dyer's knotweed.[2][3][4] It is native to Eastern Europe and Asia.

Persicaria tinctoria
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Persicaria
Species:
P. tinctoria
Binomial name
Persicaria tinctoria
(Aiton) Spach 1841
Synonyms[1]
  • Polygonum tinctorium Aiton 1789
  • Ampelygonum tinctorium (Aiton) Steud.
  • Persicaria tinctoria (Aiton) H. Gross
  • Pogalis tinctoria (Aiton) Raf.

The leaves are a source of indigo dye. It was already in use in the Western Zhou period (c. 1045 BC – 771 BC), and was the most important blue dye in East Asia until the arrival of Indigofera from the south.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Persicaria tinctoria. The Plant List.
  2. ^ Japanese Indigo Polygonum tinctorium also called: Persicaria tinctoria
  3. ^ An Impartation of Color: Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium) – leaves
  4. ^ "Dye seeds Japanese indigo, Polygonum tinctorium". Archived from the original on 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-08-23. [...] Japanese indigo or dyer's knotweed is a plant that contains indigo precursors in the green leaves.
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