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Chrozophora tinctoria
Also called Dyer's Litmus, Southern Chrozophora, Turn Sole, Dyer's Croton, Turnsole
Giradol (Chrozophora tinctoria) is a weedy annual of the spurge family, found in nutrient-poor ground across the Mediterranean, Middle East, India and Central Asia. It is grown only as a dye plant or curiosity, not as a garden ornamental, and it is poisonous.
Chrozophora tinctoria (commonly known as dyer's croton, giradol, turnsole or dyer's litmus plant) is a plant species native to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Central Asia. It is also present as a weed in North America and Australia.
Chrozophora tinctoria produced the blue-purple colorant "turnsole" (also known as katasol or folium ) used in medieval illuminated manuscripts and as a food colorant in Dutch cheese and certain liquors. Its use was mostly as substitute of the more expensive Tyrian purple, the famous dye obtained from Murex molluscs. The color comes from the plant's fruit, specifically its dry outer coat. The colorant is also obtained from the translucent sap contained in the plant cells when the leaves of the plant are broken off and exposed to the air. Different shades of blue and purple may also be obtained when the juice extracts are exposed to the vapors emitted from ammonia (NH3), and which in France, during the late 19th century, was produced by applying fresh horse manure and urine to the fabric that was soaked with the plant extract. The plant has historically been used throughout the Levant to dye clothing. 100 kilograms (220 lb) of the plant produces 50 kilograms (110 lb) of sap, and with this quantity one is able to dye 25 kilograms (55 lb) of fabric rolls.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chrozophora tinctoria by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
