Chrozophora tinctoria

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Diaphoretickes
Cladus: CAM
Cladus: Archaeplastida
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Malpighiales

Familia: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamilia: Acalyphoideae
Tribus: Chrozophoreae
Subtribus: Chrozophorinae
Genus: Chrozophora
Species: Chrozophora tinctoria
Name

Chrozophora tinctoria (L.) A.Juss., 1824
Synonyms

Basionym
Croton tinctorius L., Sp. Pl.: 1004 (1753).
Homotypic
Ricinoides tinctoria (L.) Moench, Methodus: 286 (1794).
Chrozophora tinctoria var. genuina Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 749 (1866), not validly publ.
Tournesol tinctoria (L.) Baill., Traité Bot. Méd. Phan. 2: 932 (1884).
Heterotypic
Croton argenteus Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: lxxv (1775), nom. illeg.
Croton obliquus Vahl, Symb. Bot. 1: 78 (1790).
Croton verbascifolius Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 4: 539 (1805).
Croton patulus Lag., Gen. Sp. Pl.: 21 (1816).
Chrozophora hierosolymitana Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3: 850 (1826).
Chrozophora obliqua (Vahl) A.Juss. ex Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3: 850 (1826).
Chrozophora tinctoria var. hierosolymitana (Spreng.) Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 850 (1826).
Chrozophora verbascifolia (Willd.) A.Juss. ex Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3: 851 (1826).
Croton oblongifolius Sieber ex Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3: 850 (1826), nom. illeg.
Chrozophora villosa Lindl. in J.Sibthorp & J.E.Smith, Fl. Graec. 10: 78 (1840).
Chrozophora sieberi C.Presl, Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 3: 539 (1845).
Chrozophora integrifolia Bunge, Beitr. Fl. Russl.: 314 (1852).
Chrozophora tinctoria f. brachypetala Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 749 (1866).
Chrozophora tinctoria var. subplicata Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 749 (1866).
Chrozophora tinctoria var. verbascifolia (Willd.) Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 748 (1866).
Tournesol warionii (Coss. ex Batt. & Trab.) Baill., Traité Bot. Méd. Phan. 2: 932 (1884).
Tournesol obliqua (Vahl) Franch., J. Bot. (Morot) 1: 135 (1887).
Chrozophora warionii Coss. ex Batt. in J.A.Battandier & L.C.Trabut, Fl. Algérie, Dicot.: 804 (1890).
Tournesol verbascifolia (Willd.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 621 (1891).
Chrozophora tinctoria var. glabrata Heldr., Parnassus Boicus: 277 (1899).
Chrozophora glabrata (Heldr.) Pax & K.Hoffm. in H.G.A.Engler (ed.), Pflanzenr., IV, 147, VI: 24 (1912).
Chrozophora subplicata (Müll.Arg.) Pax & K.Hoffm. in H.G.A.Engler (ed.), Pflanzenr., IV, 147, VI: 21 (1912).
Chrozophora cordifolia Pazij, Bot. Mater. Gerb. Inst. Bot. Zool. Akad. Nauk Uzbeksk. S.S.R. 11: 23 (1948).
Chrozophora lepidocarpa Pazij, Bot. Mater. Gerb. Inst. Bot. Zool. Akad. Nauk Uzbeksk. S.S.R. 14: 23 (1954).
Chrozophora tinctoria subsp. obliqua (Vahl) O.Bolòs & Vigo, Fl. Països Catalans 2: 547 (1990).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Asia-Temperate
Afghanistan; Gulf States; India; Iran; Kazakhstan; Lebanon-Syria; Pakistan; Palestine; Saudi Arabia; Sinai; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Yemen
Continental: Europe
Albania; Baleares; Bulgaria; Corse; Cyprus; East Aegean Is.; France; Greece; Italy; Kriti; Krym; Portugal; Romania; Sardegna; Spain; Yugoslavia
Continental: Africa
Algeria; Egypt; Libya; Morocco; Tunisia; Socotra;

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Jussieu, A.H.L. de 1824. De Euphorbiacearum Generibus medisque earumdem viribus tentamen. 118 pp. Paris. BHL Reference page. : 28, 110, t. 7.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Chrozophora tinctoria in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Jun 08. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Chrozophora tinctoria. Published online. Accessed: Jun 08 2020. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Chrozophora tinctoria in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Jun 08. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2020. Chrozophora tinctoria. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 08 Jun 2020.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Jun 08 in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2020.

Vernacular names
English: giradol, Dyer's Litmus, Southern Chrozophora
hrvatski: Bojadisarska krozofora
русский: Лакмусовая трава
українська: Фарбувальниця звичайна

Chrozophora tinctoria (commonly known as dyer's croton,[2] giradol,[2] turnsole[2] or dyer's litmus plant[3]) is a plant species native to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Central Asia.[1][4][5][6] It is also present as a weed in North America and Australia.[7]
Description

It is an annual, typically found in nutrient-poor ground. It develops a large taproot.[7] The plant is erect and covered with wool-like hairs.[8] The ash-green leaves are alternate. The tiny monecious flowers are grouped in a raceme. The lower, female flowers lack petals and the upper male flowers have five small yellow petals. Pollination is by ants.[7] The fruits are conspicuous and consist of three dark green conjoined spheres. Their surface is decorated with white scales and warty structures. Each sphere contains three seeds, which are propelled away from the plant by the mechanical force of the mature fruit twisting as it opens.[7] It is considered a poisonous plant. Its consumption may cause stomach upset, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhoea.[9]
Use for dye

Chrozophora tinctoria produced the blue-purple colorant "turnsole" (also known as katasol[10] or folium[8] ) used in medieval illuminated manuscripts and as a food colorant in Dutch cheese and certain liquors.[11] Its use was mostly as substitute of the more expensive Tyrian purple, the famous dye obtained from Murex molluscs.[12] The color comes from the plant's fruit, specifically its dry outer coat.[10] 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.[13] 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.[13] The plant has historically been used throughout the Levant to dye clothing.[13] 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.[13]

In 2020, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from FCT NOVA, University of Porto and University of Aveiro, identified the complex chemical structure of the medieval purple-blue dye extracted from the fruits of Chrozophora tinctoria.[8] The chemical structure of the medieval dye was a mystery until now.[8] The extracts obtained showed a novel blue chemical, chrozophoridine as the main chromophore.[8][14]
References

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
"Chrozophora tinctoria". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
Shmida, Avi (2005). MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: MAPA Publishers. p. 250. OCLC 716569354., s.v. Chrozophora tinctoria
Altervista Flora Italiana, Tornasole comune, Turn Sole, tournesol, tornasol, Lackmuskraut, Chrozophora tinctoria (L.) A. Juss.
Zervous, S., Raus, T. & Yannitsaros, A. (2009). Additions to the flora of the island of Kalimnos (SE Aegean, Greece). Willdenowia 39: 165-177.
Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2011). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 3: 1-449. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
Mifsud, Stephen. "Chrozophora tinctoria (Dyer's Litmus)". Wild Plants of Malta. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
Nabais, P.; Oliveira, J.; Pina, F.; Teixeira, N.; de Freitas, V.; Brás, N. F.; Clemente, A.; Rangel, M.; Silva, A. M. S.; Melo, M. J. (April 2020). "A 1000-year-old mystery solved: Unlocking the molecular structure for the medieval blue from Chrozophora tinctoria , also known as folium". Science Advances. 6 (16): eaaz7772. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.7772N. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz7772. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 7164948. PMID 32426456.
Abid, Mushtaq Ahmad, Muhammad Zafar, Sadia Zafar, Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan, Ashwaq T. Althobaiti, Shazia Sultana, Omer Kilic, Trobjon Makhkamov, Akramjon Yuldashev, Oybek Mamarakhimov, Khislat Khaydarov, Afat O. Mammadova, Komiljon Komilov and Salman Majeed, Aqsa (December 2023). "Foliar epidermal and trichome micromorphological diversity among poisonous plants and their taxonomic significance". Folia Horticulturae. 35 (2): 243–274. doi:10.2478/fhort-2023-0019. ISSN 2083-5965.
Melo, Maria J.; Castro, Rita; Nabais, Paula; Vitorino, Tatiana (2018). "The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators' manual". Heritage Science. 6: 44. doi:10.1186/s40494-018-0208-z.
Chrozophora, Folium cloth
M. Aceto, E. Calà, A. Agostino, G. Fenoglio, A. Idone, C. Porte, M. Gulmini, On the identification of folium and orchil on illuminated manuscripts, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2016.08.046
Ḳrispil, Nissim (1985). A Bag of Plants (The Useful Plants of Israel) (in Hebrew). Vol. 3 (Ṭ.-M.). Jerusalem: Cana Publishing House Ltd. pp. 627–629, 632–633. ISBN 965-264-011-5. OCLC 959573975., s.v. Chrozophora tinctoria
"1000-Year-Old Mistery Unfolded With The Discovery Of Medieval Blue Dye Structure". Universidade Nova de Lisboa. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.