Dicliptera tinctoria Nees Kostel.

Magenta (Dicliptera tinctoria) is a herb up to 1 meter tall from the Acanthaceae family, spread from Southern Assam to Southeast China and the Philippines. Its leaf extract is used as a magenta food coloring characteristic of Vietnamese cuisine, especially in taro-filled cakes. In traditional Chinese medicine, magenta is traditionally used to treat coughs and dysentery.

This plant is found at elevations of 500-1,000 m asl. It grows well in shaded conditions (only morning sun), requiring fertile soil (sandy loam and sandy clay loam), high humidity, low temperatures, low light intensity, and normal pH.

• Stem 5- or 6-angled, many-branched, grooved, velvety hairy.
• Leaves petiole up to 3.5 cm long, blade ovate to lanceolate-ovate, 3-14.5 x 1.5-5.3 cm, both surfaces smoothly velvety-hairy or becoming glabrous, 5 or 6 secondary veins on each side of the midrib, base broadly wedge-shaped to nearly rounded, margin wavy, tip tapering to pointed.
• Flowers arranged in cymes in the leaf axils or at branch tips, stalked. Inflorescence stalk 0.3-2.3 cm long. Flowers pink, 3.5-5.7 cm, outer surface velvety-hairy with non-glandular trichomes, tube about 1.5 mm in diameter. Lower lip broadly ovate-elliptic, 2.2-2.6 x about 1.8 cm, notched tip, upper lip oblong, 2-2.5 x about 0.9 cm, 3-lobed. Staminal filaments about 1.3 cm.
• Fruit a capsule about 1.5 cm, velvety-hairy.
• Seeds about 1.5 x 1.5 mm.

Propagation by seeds and stem cuttings.

Alkaloids, saponins, triterpenoids, tannins, and flavonoids.

Treats coughs, dysentery, diarrhea and bronchitis, wounds. Has antihypertensive and antilipidemic activity.

Noja, Luja (Maluku).