Alkanet
Anchusa; Greek anchousa, “paint”
- Known today as
- Alkanna tinctoria (syn. Anchusa tinctoria). A Mediterranean relative of borage, grown for the red dye in its root.
- Kind
- Plant, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- alkannin, shikonin, 7-angeloylretronecine, and 1 more
- Earliest authority here
- Pliny (AD 23/24–79)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: An older authority added from a text read in full. Version 1, first published September 27, 2026.
Alkanet: what was it used for?
Ground and infused in oil or wax to color salves, wood stains, and faces: French women of the eighteenth century used an alkanet ointment as rouge.
Alkanet: what does modern science say?
A traditional dye and cosmetic pigment with no established internal medicinal action; some related species carry liver-toxic alkaloids.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- alkannin ChEMBLthe red naphthoquinone pigment
- shikonin ChEMBLits enantiomer
- 7-angeloylretronecinea pyrrolizidine alkaloid
- triangularine
- Mechanism
- Alkannin and shikonin speed wound closure in animal and some clinical work and are antimicrobial; the root also carries pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are converted in the liver to pyrroles that block the hepatic veins.
- Toxic dose
- External use is the only safe use; the alkaloid content makes internal use unwise at any dose.
- Syndrome
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (veno-occlusive disease)
- Standing
- Used as a colour for cosmetics and food in some countries; internal use is not approved, and the German authorities have advised against it since the 1990s.
- Papageorgiou, V. P., et al. (1999). “The chemistry and biology of alkannin, shikonin, and related naphthazarin natural products.” Angewandte Chemie 38. Verified against its record · doi:10.1002/chin.199919293
- Roeder, E. (1995). “Medicinal plants in Europe containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids.” Pharmazie 50. Verified against its record · doi:10.1002/chin.199528310
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Alkanet: what lore surrounds it?
Its name descends from the Greek anchousa, “paint,” naming the plant for its use rather than its look. It gave wax rubbed onto warm marble a convincing flesh tint, and oil or spirit of wine a deep red, though it stains water only a dull brown.
Alkanet: what did the older authorities say?
- Pliny
- “The root of the anchusa, too, is made use of, a plant a finger in thickness. It is split into leaves like the papyrus, and when touched it stains the hands the colour of blood; it is used for imparting rich colours to wool.” Applied with cerate “it heals ulcerous sores, those of aged people in particular,” and is employed for burns. Pliny gives the test of the genuine root: “It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in oil.” With vinegar it serves “for the cure of leprosy and the removal of freckles,” and “a decoction of the root in water, it is said, kills fleas.”
- Culpeper
- Under Venus, “one of her darlings, though somewhat hard to come by”: made into an ointment for old ulcers, burns, and St Anthony’s fire; he repeats Dioscorides that it helps those bitten by a venomous beast, and that “if any one that hath newly eaten it, do but spit into the mouth of a serpent, the serpent instantly dies”; “as gallant a remedy to drive out the small pox and measles as any is.”
Sources
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Alkanets.” Book, not indexed
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History 22.23, trans. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley (1855), Perseus Digital Library. Primary text
- Culpeper, N. (1653). The Complete Herbal, “Alkanet.” Project Gutenberg #49513. Primary text
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 5 cited: 2 verified against its record, 2 primary text, 1 book, not indexed.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 27, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Alkanet.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/alkanet.
- MLA
“Alkanet.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/alkanet. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Alkanet. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/alkanet
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See Also
Poisoned alike: pyrrolizidine alkaloids (veno-occlusive disease)
Borage · Ragwort · Butterbur · Houndstongue · Coltsfoot · Comfrey · the syndrome, with all of them →
Also in Pliny the Elder
Aloe in Pliny the Elder · Agrimony in Pliny the Elder · Alum in Pliny the Elder · Yellow dock in Pliny the Elder · everything Pliny the Elder names →
Also in Nicholas Culpeper
The amulet herbs in Nicholas Culpeper · Asarabacca in Nicholas Culpeper · Adder’s-tongue fern in Nicholas Culpeper · everything Nicholas Culpeper names →
Drawing on the same sources: Grieve, Culpeper, Roeder
Historical description, not medical advice.