Lawsonia inermis L., Lythraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Lawsonia alba Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: cinnamomo

English: camphire, Egyptian-privet, henna, Jamaica-mignonette, mignonette bush, mignonette-tree

French: henné

Hindi: kiari, mendhi

Spanish: alcana, alheña, reseda, resedón

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Evergreen shrub or small tree 2-7 m high, glabrous, with the young branches 4-angular and the old ones terete, rigid and often spinescent. Leaves 1.2-6.7 x 0.5-2.7 cm., elliptic, obovate to oblanceolate, acute at the apex, sometimes mucronulate, narrowed into a short petiole, pinnately nerved, submembranous. Panicles 5-25 cm. long. Flowers whitish, scented; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; bracts 0.4-0.7 mm. long, linear, caducous. Calyx-tube 1-1.7 mm. high, with the lobes 2-3 mm. long, ovate-triangular. Petals 1.5-2.5 mm. long, slightly clawed, yellowish. Stamens with the filaments c. 5 mm. long. Style c. 3 mm. long. Fruits 4-6 x 4.5-8 mm. Seeds 2-2.6 mm. long"  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

"Fragrant shrub, up to 2.5 m tall. Leaves elliptic, ovate or obovate, acute, obtuse or subacuminate, 8-44 mm long, 2-20 mm broad. Panicles 3-22 cm long. Pedicels 2-3.5 mm long. Sepals ovate. Petals 3-4 mm long, 4-5 mm broad. Filaments 4 mm long. Capsules (3-) 4-8 (-9) mm in diameter, wall veined"  (Flora of Pakistan online).

Habitat/ecology:  "It grows mainly along watercourses and in semi-arid regions and is adapted to a wide range of conditions. It can withstand low air humidity and drought. Henna requires high temperatures for germination, growth and development"  (Agroforestree Database).  In Mozambique (native), "in alluvial soils along rivers and in villages  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Western tropical Asia, North Africa and probably of the eastern coast of Africa (Flora Zambesiaca online); widespread in cultivation.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Alamagan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 181)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 181)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011) Ornamental tree
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 289) Vouchers cited: DA 12347, Degener & Ordonez 13627
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 434) Occasional in Guam gardens.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 181)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1994) (voucher ID: PTBG 16058) Taxon name on voucher: Lawsonia inermis
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1930) (voucher ID: BISH 57141) Taxon name on voucher: Lawsonia inermis

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 54) Casual

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Comoros Comoro Islands	Comoro Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Information and photos at ASEAN Tropical Plant Database.
Information from the Agroforestry Database (PDF).

Additional online information about Lawsonia inermis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lawsonia inermis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lawsonia inermis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1930. Voucher specimen #BISH57141(Wilder, G.P. s.n.).

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

International Center for Research in Agroforestry. 2008. AgroForestryTree database: a tree species reference and selection guide (online resource). World Agroforestry Centre.

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Ministry of the Environment, Korea. 2011. ASEAN tropical plant database (online resource).

Missouri Botanical Garden. 2011. TROPICOS. Online searchable database.

Nasir, E./Ali, S. I., eds. 1985. Flora of Pakistan. Pakistan Ag. Res. Council, Islamabad. 1970-1985, 170 vols (also on-line edition).

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1994. Voucher specimen #PTBG16058(Flynn, Tim 5606).

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2012. Flora Zambesiaca (online resource).

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.