[1] It is derived from the plant Chrozophora tinctoria (commonly known as dyer's croton,[2] giradol,[2] or turnsole[2]), which is a species native to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

[7] The color comes from the plant's fruit, specifically its dry outer coat.

[8] Different shades of blue and purple may also be obtained when the juice extracts are exposed to the vapors emitted from ammonia (NH3), and which in France, during the late 19th century, was produced by applying fresh horse manure and urine to the fabric that was soaked with the plant extract.

[8] The chemical structure consists of a glucosyl derivative of a dimer of hermidin.

The material exists as a mixture of two atropisomeric forms as a result of restricted rotation about the bond between the two hermidin rings.