Safflower - Carthamus tinctorius; safflower

Japanese: ベニバナ(紅花) - ベニバナ（英語表記）Carthamus tinctorius; safflower

A biennial plant of the Asteraceae family, native to Western Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times as an important dye plant, and is said to have been introduced to Japan from Goryeo during the reign of Empress Suiko, where it has been cultivated for dye, cosmetic, and medicinal purposes. Currently, it is cultivated in small quantities in Yamagata Prefecture, where it is the prefectural flower. The plant grows to a height of 40-130 cm, and the stem is cylindrical and stiff, with many branches. The leaves are alternate, broadly lanceolate, and have sharp thorns on the leaf margins. The involucre and upper leaves become thorny as they mature. The flower head, which resembles a thistle, consists of only small tubular flowers, which start yellow and gradually turn red. The flower corolla is dried and pressed into a mochi-like shape to produce safflower, which is used for red dye and cosmetic rouge such as lipstick. The seeds contain a lot of oil (safflower oil), which dries quickly, and are therefore also used in paints, soaps, margarines, etc. The ink made from the soot produced by burning this oil is called safflower ink and is considered to be the highest quality product. (→Safflower dyeing)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

キク科の越年草で，西アジア原産。古くから栽培されてきた重要な染料植物で，推古天皇の時代に高麗から日本に伝わったといわれ，染料，化粧料，薬用として栽培されてきた。現在は山形県でわずかに栽培され，同県の県花となっている。草丈は 40～130cmとなり，茎は円筒形で硬く多数分枝する。葉は互生し，葉身は広披針形で葉縁に鋭いとげがある。総包と上部の葉は成熟するにつれてとげ状となる。アザミに似た頭状花は小管状花だけから成り，初め黄色で次第に赤色に変る。花冠を乾かし板餅状に押し固めた商品の「べにばな」は，紅色染料，口紅などの化粧用の紅に使われる。種子は油 (サフラワーオイル) を多く含み，乾性油なので，塗料，石鹸，マーガリンなどに使われることもある。この油を燃やして出たすすからつくる墨は紅花墨と呼ばれ，最高級品とされている。 (→紅花染 ) 　

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