136. Crozophora tinctoria, Necker.—Turnsole.
(Succus.)
Heliotropium tricoccum, Pliny, lib. xxii. cap. 29; Croton tinctorium, Linn.—South of France: Mediterranean coast. Cultivated since 1833 in the neighbourhood of Grand Gallargus, in the department of Gard, in France. The expressed juice is green: but, under the combined influence of the air and ammonia, it becomes purplish. Coarse sacking stained purple by this juice is termed turnsole rags (tournesol en drapeaux), or bezetta carulea [Bezetta, the diminutive of the Spanish word bezo, a lip, a term originally applied to pigments used to color the lips.]. These rags are exclusively employed by the Dutch; but for what purpose is not well known, though it has been supposed for colouring cheese, confectionery, liqueurs, &c. [See an interesting notice of Turnsole by Mr. D. Hanbury, jun. in the Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. ix p. 308, 1850.]
