1 10  On  the  so-called  African  Saffron.  {ASaJrXiPimM' 
ON  THE  SO-CALLED  AFRICAN  SAFFRON. 
By  Prof.  John  M.  Maisch. 
Nearly  a  year  ago,  my  friend  A.  E.  Ebert  sent  me  a  sample  of 
what  had  been  offered  in  Chicago  under  the  name  of  African  saffron, 
and  was  in  the  hands  of  an  agent  of  a  New  York  house.  I  also  pro- 
cured from  Breithaupt  &  Wilson,  New  York,  a  sample  under  the 
same  name,  and  found  the  Chicago  and  New  York  so-called  African 
saffron  alike,  namely,  to  be  the  florets  of  Carthamus  tinctorius,  Cir., 
the  well-known  safflower  or  dyer's  saffron,  but  more  broken  than 
what  we  usually  see  under  this  name  and  that  of  American  saffron ;  it 
is  likewise  more  discolored.  This  plant  is  originally  indigenous  to 
the  East  Indies,  but  is  very  extensively  cultivated  in  Western  Asia, 
Southern  Europe,  and  Northern  Africa,  particularly  Egypt.  Whether 
this  so-called  African  saffron  was  really  imported  from  Africa  or  not, 
I  have  no  means  to  ascertain  ;  but  it  is  not  improbable  that,  with  the 
staple  drugs  regularly  shipped  from  Alexandria,  Egypt,  this  lot  of 
carthamus  may  have  likewise  been  exported  in  consequence  of  the 
failing  supply  from  Europe  and  other  places. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  McKesson  &  Robbins,  New  York, 
I  obtained  three  samples  of  so-called  African  saffron,  two  of  which 
likewise  proved  to  be  carthamus  ;  one  of  these  samples  was  on  hand 
in  New  York,  and  offered  at  $3.50  per  pound ;  the  other,  the  better 
quality  as  far  as  could  be  judged  from  the  small  samples,  was,  previ- 
ous to  its  arrival,  offered  at  "75  cents  per  pound. 
The  third  of  these  samples,  representing  thirty  pounds,  held  in 
London,  England,  and  for  which  offers  were  solicited,  was  not  cartha- 
mus ;  it  consists  of  the  corolla  of  a  plant  probably  belonging  to  the 
natural  order  Scrophulariacece,  which  in  their  dried  condition  are  of  a 
dirty  greenish  brown  color  ;  they  are  about  one  inch  long,  the  tube 
being  about  one-tenth  inch  in  diameter,  and  three-quarter  inch  in 
length,  inflated  in  the  throat  and  smooth,  the  limb  somewhat  bilabiate, 
one  sterile  stamen,  with  the  filament  nearly  free,  the  fertile  stamens 
didynamous.  Infused  in  cold  water  they  impart  an  intense  yellow 
color  to  it.  The  total  absence  of  calyx,  ovary,  and  even  style,  renders 
it  impossible  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  genus  from  which  this  so- 
called  saffron  may  have  been  derived.  It  is  unquestionably  a  new 
claimant  for  public  favor  as  a  dye-stuff,  its  unsightly  appearance 
probably  interfering  with  its  successful  introduction.  It  is  too  dark 
colored  and  too  coarse  in  its  structure  to  be  used  as  a  sophistication 
of,  or  substitution  for,  true  saffron. 
