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Economic Plants

 

view of beds with kale

Here you find plants that have changed the world!

There are plants that are grown to provide food for both humans and animals. Others have fibers that make thread, textile, yarn and paper, or that are used for dyeing to give blue, red and yellow. Together with the Spice and Medicinal garden, the Economic plant garden shows how important plants are to our existence.

Among the plants grown here you will find the most common kitchen plants, cereal grains and economically important crops from temperate countries. You can see what they look like before they land on the vegetable counters and supermarket shelves, and before they are woven and sewn to clothing.

You can also explore more unusual cultivars of vegetables and useful plants. Exotic vegetables, old cultivars of kitchen plants and completely new cultivars grow side by side.

Please note that it is not allowed for visitors to pick vegetables or other plants in the Botanical Garden.

purple flowers on green small leaved foliage

Black henna

Black henna, also called true indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), is one of several species within the genus Indigo that have been used to dye fibers and textiles blue. The dye is present in the plant's leaves.

Part of the color settles around the fibers, which makes the fabric more durable. Therefore, indigo has been used to dye workwear and jeans.

Indigo is represented by over 700 different species around the world and belong to the legume family, Fabaceae.