What is khaki?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
May 26, 2003
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The khair-tree or catechu (Acacia catechu (Linnaeus f.) Willdenow) is a small tree growing 4.5 to 6 meters (15 to 20 feet). The tree was considered native to an area extending from Pakistan to Burma (Myanmar). It is now believed that khair-tree's natural range included east and central Africa and extended into Nepal and China.
According to King's American Dispensatory, the astringent, catechu, was "prepared by concentrating a strong aqueous decoction of the reddish inner wood, and pouring it into square clay molds to dry." Catechu was used to treat oral ulcers and gum diseases, diarrhea and dysentery, and chronic catarrh (inflammation of the mucosal membranes). (H.W. Felter and J.U. Lloyd, 1898) In A Modern Herbal, Mrs. Grieve (1931) reported that singers dissolved small pieces of catechu in their mouths to relax the throat and treat laryngitis.
In the mid-1800s, British soldiers in India began dyeing their white uniforms to a dusty color using anything from muddy water to tea (Camellia sinensis). Cutch (the same as the astringent catechu) was a reliable dye already in use for calico-prints in India's cotton fabric industry. The dye created the color khak, an Indian word for dust, earth, and ashes.
In 1847, Sir Harry Burnett Lumsden was appointed to create the Corps of Guides, a regiment that would be stationed at Mardan on the Peshawar border. The regiment was to be composed of trustworthy men to act as guides for troops and to gather intelligence. To outfit his men, Lumsden originated the first official khaki uniform.
The cotton twill uniform wore well, did not show dirt as easily as white, and was not as easy a target as white, red, or black. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911)
According to the Quartermaster Review, the U.S. military adopted the khaki uniform in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. By World War I, the military added a green to cutch creating olive-drab so that soldiers would not stand-out against the surroundings of the European theater. ("The Evolution of the Uniform", 1928)
The Information Media Center of Hiroshima University has posted a photograph of catechu taken by Kazuo Yamasaki at the Botanic Garden in Nonthabri, Thailand. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/shoyaku/photo/Thai/021202Acacia.jpg
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