Indigofera tinctoria
- noun
- Specialized
:
Indigofera tinctoria
- The leaves of Indigofera tinctoria are harvested to produce indigo dye, which is used in clothing.
Examples
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Traditional farmers still grow Indigofera tinctoria in some regions of India and Southeast Asia.
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Farmers in India cultivate Indigofera tinctoria for its dye.
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Indigofera tinctoria has been cultivated for centuries to produce natural indigo dye for textiles.
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The vibrant blue color extracted from Indigofera tinctoria was highly prized in ancient trade.
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The Indigofera tinctoria plant thrives in warm climates.
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Indigofera tinctoria is an important plant for creating the blue dye used in traditional fabric making.
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In many cultures, Indigofera tinctoria has been used for centuries as a natural dye for textiles.
Synonyms
1
8.0
A plant with groups of small leaves and purple flowers used to make dye
A small bush with many leaves and purple flowers grown for blue dye
Surface Forms
Morphology
Indigofera + tinctoria
This is a taxonomic Latin binomial: the genus 'Indigofera' clearly signals indigo/dye-producing plants so a learner who knows that could infer it is a dye plant. However, the species epithet 'tinctoria' is Latin and not in the learner dictionary here, and scientific names function as formal labels rather than normal compositional phrases, so the meaning is only partially predictable without botanical knowledge.
Etymology
Indigofera tinctoria is a plant whose name tells its job: Indigofera means 'bearing indigo' and tinctoria means 'used for dyeing'. That's why this plant has been grown for centuries to make blue dye for cloth.