Definition of "alkanet" [al•ka•net]

• A European perennial herb (Alkanna tinctoria) having cymes of blue flowers and red roots. (noun)
• The root of this plant or the red dye extracted from the root. (noun)
• Any of various hairy plants of the Eurasian genus Anchusa, having blue or violet flowers grouped on elongated cymes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It is prepared by precipitating an alcoholic extract of the root of the _Anchusa tinctoria_, commonly known as alkanet, a plant growing in the Levant, and some other warm countries."
• "Lit. “enamelled or painted with anchusa or alkanet,” a plant, the wild bugloss, whose root yields a red dye."
• "Another powder for the same ulcers: - The black chamaeleon, when prepared with the juice of the fig. It is to be prepared roasted, and alkanet mixed with it."