1662 tr. F. Plater et al. Golden Pract. Physick (new ed.) 540/2 Alcanna, or Hanna in Barbery..is the best to make hair yellow; and usual to my Knowledg, among the Turks which admire red hair in Women and Children, and it is so strong that it dyeth the Nails also and other parts when they please. The Leaves thereof bruised are rubbed on, either by themselves, or moistned first in the Juyce of the Root.

1677 J. Phillips tr. J.-B. Tavernier Persian Trav. i. ix. 44 in tr. J.-B. Tavernier Six Voy. (1678) Another sort of Water with which they dye their Hands and Nails red, which they squeeze out of a certaine Root call'd Hina.

1791 ‘T. Newte’ Prospects & Observ. Tour 50 A large quantity of the herb hinna is sent by the bride-groom to the house of the bride.

1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) i. 3 The henna grows in considerable quantities on the left bank of the river.

1922 Inventory Seeds & Plants Imported (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 51. 24 Lawsonia inermis L. Lythraceæ. Henna. A handsome shrub, probably native to northern Africa, western and southern Asia, but widely cultivated in tropical countries.

1972 W. M. Watt Infl. Islam on Medieval Europe 22 There were many plants used for flavouring and colouring, such as saffron, carthamus or bastard saffron, cumin, coriander, henna, woad and madder.

2013 MailOnline (Nexis) 30 Jan. (Travel section) Zighy Bay..has created its own oasis-with 11,000 palms, fig trees, coffee plants, henna, and pomegranate, as well as all its own vegetables.

1911 Herald (Melbourne) 8 Aug. 3/3 ‘Ghost roses’..are to be found in tints of rich henna, soft cream, dead white, and all the yellow tones of the sweet-smelling tea roses.

1940 Montana Standard 7 Apr. A Kelly green plaid on a white ground with a thin stripe of henna woven in will wake up your dark green suit.

2018 V. Riley Bashful Bride xv. 189 Her pretty eyes, large topaz-brown pools with flecks of henna and gold.

1756 A. Russell Nat. Hist. Aleppo i. 104 A piece of the henna-paste is applied to the tip of each finger and toe.

1854 B. von Haxthausen Transcaucasia xiii. 427 His hair and beard were dyed with henna powder of a brick-red colour.

1966 A. N. Keith Children of Allah ix. 81 Her small hands and feet were painted with intricate henna designs.

2001 Art Room Catal. Autumn 15/1 Hand painted with natural henna paste in the rhythmic patterns of Morocco.

2008 L. J. Rowland Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë xix. 162 The unnatural shade of her hair suggested henna dye.

1800 J. Rennell Geogr. Syst. Herodotus xxiii. 664 The chief culture at present..is the Alhenna or Henna plant, which requires much water.

1813 J. Forbes Oriental Mem. I. iv. 75 After the girls are betrothed, the ends of the fingers and nails are dyed red, with a preparation from the mendey, or hinna shrub.

1838 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights (1839) I. iii. 137 Sprigs of the henna-tree.

1924 Spatula July 386/2 The odor of the henna flowers is still distinct enough to recognize as possessing a characteristic sweet odor, which..has been likened to lilac and mignonette.

1976 Arlington Heights (Illinois) Herald 12 Oct. b2 (advt.) Colora Henna uses only the finest henna leaves, grown in Persia, then refined and processed in Israel.

2011 @JimThorpeHomes 20 July in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Another hot day in the Pocono area. My henna plants love this weather, but the humans are wilting.

1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings II. xxv. 292 They put out their little henna-stained fingers and pass them over the sleeve of your coat.

1887 Outing Jan. 291/2 The sanctimonious old joker with henna-tinted beard and finger-nails.

1898 M. M. Dowie Crook of Bough xv. 154 Her hair black, with red-tipped, henna-dipped locks straying to fringe and shadow the ebon depths of her long eyes.

1906 Daily Chron. 27 June 6/4 From tight-lacing to henna-dyeing the frisky matron is a study in successful artifice.

1920 Chambers's Jrnl. May 299/1 He..showed a handful of his henna-dyed beard.

1961 A. Hosain Sunlight on Broken Column i. vii. 59 May the day come soon when I shall put on my Bitias' henna-painted hands red and gold bridal bangles.

2005 Asian Woman Feb. 107/1 Placing her henna-decorated hand on her lap.

1860 G. W. Thornbury Turkish Life & Char. II. i. 13 Every moment I expect to see one of those henna-fingered crones who so tormented us, go plump into the turbulent green sea.

1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 15/1 Narrow streets, veiled women drawing the yasmak close with henna-tipped fingers.

1907 J. F. Fraser Red Russia xi. 137 I come across three [Tartars], robed, henna-bearded, and their fingers long and delicate.

1907 Daily Chron. 31 Dec. 3/1 His American trotting-car and his henna-haired wife.

1939 R. Campbell Flowering Rifle i. 24 Amongst her Modern Southeys, henna-tressed.

1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men 161 A small pincushion made of pink imitation silk with the bodiced torso of a henna-wigged china doll sprouting from it.

2010 S. Fry Fry Chrons. 79 A bondage-trousered, leather-jacketed, henna-haired youth called Dave Huggins.

1883 Times 8 Dec. 10/5 The transparent aquamarine crescent was set in a sky of glowing henna red.

1931 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 10 July 8/4 Go away in a smart traveling coat. One of the newest models is of rough tweed in a tan, henna brown and orange mixture.

1956 K. Singh Train to Pakistan (1988) 36 One of the women was old, with white hair dyed a rich henna-orange.

2002 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 24 Aug. 10 The sky is grey, but almost luminous against the vineyard's rich, henna-red soil.

1865 All Year Round 28 Jan. 15/2 The transparent henna-coloured nail.., the possession of which, next to a small foot, is the glory and the ambition of a fashionable woman.

1912 ‘R. Devereux’ Aspects of Algeria i. 9 She would follow its course with her slim, henna coloured hands.

1954 M. Mead Growing up in New Guinea 143 Henna-coloured betel juice.

2002 Cigar Aficionado Jan. 130/2 A reddish, henna-colored cigar.

1876 A. Leared Morocco & Moors i. 35 A ceremony takes place..called Layl el Henna (the ‘Henna Night’). The bridegroom goes..with a crowd of followers to the bride's house, and, seating himself beside her, applies henna to her hands.

1945 Indian Rev. Nov. 626/1 The marriage ceremony is preceded by the so called ‘Henna Night’, when the hands and feet of the bride and bridegroom are dyed in henna, while women sing chorus songs far into the night.

2012 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 Aug. d3 Henna night is a ladies-have-fun night, like a bridal shower.

1851 G. W. Curtis Nile Notes xvii. 119 Boys dressed like women,..kohling their eyelashes, hennaing their finger and toe nails.

1875 I. Burton Inner Life Syria, Palestine, & Holy Land I. xii. 145 Moslem women go through much more than the above performances, especially in the matter of being henna'd, and having their eyebrows plucked.

1917 Collier's 24 Feb. 18/1 I look much younger than you. If you'd let me henna my hair like Lily Appleby, I'd be taken for your daughter.

1944 National Geographic Mag. May 565/1 They stop to survey themselves in tiny leather-covered mirrors, apply antimony to their eyes, or indulge in a beautifying process of hennaing their hands.

1981 D. M. Humphrey-Newell Henna (M.A. thesis, Portland State Univ.) 77 One day before the wedding, the bride's hands and feet are hennaed.

2007 C. Bohjalian Double Bind viii. 93 Since his death, Laurel's mother had begun to henna her hair.