Plural of 'alkanet,' a plant of the borage family with red roots that produce a purple-red dye.
From Spanish 'alcaneta' (diminutive of 'alcanna'), which comes from Arabic 'al-hinna' (henna). The plant was valued for its dye and medicinal properties in Mediterranean regions.
Medieval monks used alkanet to stain manuscripts with beautiful red dyes before synthetic dyes were invented—it's a plant that literally colored history, yet most people have never heard of it.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.