African saffron

noun

1

: a product formed by adulterating the true saffron with the flowers of other plants (as Carthamus tinctorius and Calendula officinalis)

2

a

: a shrub (Lyperia crocea) of southern Africa

b

: an orange dye obtained from the flowers of this shrub

Word History

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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