摘要
Jatropha gossypiifolia L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a small shrub native to Mexico and Subtropical America, now grows naturally in most tropical areas of the world. It is a neglected and underutilized plant of multiple values. It is cultivated as live fence for the protection of agricultural crops and various parts of the plant are globally used for healthcare management of human being and domesticated animals. Young stem and leaves of the plant are vital source of herbal dye for dying cotton yarn. Present paper deals with distribution, morphological description, propagation and utilization of this species. During present study young stem and leaves of J. gossypiifolia were collected from natural vegetation and colouring material was obtained by aqueous extraction method. The colouring material was used to dye cotton yarn and the dyed cotton yarn was evaluated for fastness properties by several after treatments like effect of sunlight, rubbing in water, detergent (powder and cake), lime water and citrus juice. The dyed cotton yarn shows excellent fastness properties. On the basis of present study it is concluded that J. gossypiifolia is a potential source of herbal dye for dying cotton yarn.