Simon, Andre L. 1952. A Concise Encyclopaedia of Gastronomy. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York.
Lat. Carthamus tinctorius. A European thistle which has orange flowers that are used for coloring cakes and sweets.
Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.
is a thistlelike Eurasian plant. Its seeds yield an edible oil and its orange flowers are sometimes dried and used as a saffron substitute.
Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is found in the Old World; extensively cultivated in India, China and other parts of Asia; also in Egypt, southern Europe and in South America. Under the name of safflower, the flowers are used largely for dyeing. Phillips says the flowers are used iin Spain and in the Levant to colro foods. The oil from the seeds in India is used for lamps and for culinary purposes, says Drury. In South America, as well as in jamaica, as Ainslie writes, the flowers are much used for coloring beroths and ragouts. They were so used in England in the time of Parkinson. In American seed catalogs, the seed is offered under the name of saffron but the true saffron is the product of a crocus.
