Traditional dye yielding plants of Assam, North East India.

Assam is situated in the  North Eastern region  of India. The region is very rich in plant bio diversity. Because of heavy rainfall coupled with suitable ecological conditions a large number of plant species grow well in their natural habitats . A good number of these plant species have been used as raw materials for preparation of various dyes by the rural people of the region for coloring the clothes or threads for embroidery. The dyes obtained from plant materials are water soluble and environment friendly. Plants like Lawsonia inermis Linn., Erythrina indica Lam., Bixa orellana Linn., mangifera indica Linn., Psidium guajava Linn., Eugenia Jumbolana Lam., Terminalia catappa Linn., E.prostrate ( Linn.), (Aegle marmelos (Correa) Linn., Zizyphus jujuba Lamk. etc are  used as dyes. This paper highlights the need of preserving these plant materials so that they would not go extinct with the availability of synthetic chemical dye in the market.

Keywords: Assam,traditional, dye.