Flowers for dye and colour
Flowers that give colour to cloth, food and skin.
Sausage treeKigelia africana
African tree with large sausage-shaped fruit and striking maroon flowers
🇰🇪 Kenya and 2 more · Flowering tree
Desfontainia
A glossy-leaved shrub with red tubular flowers from southern forests
🇨🇱 Chile and 7 more · Flowering shrub
Impatiens
A large genus of flowering herbs known for their explosive seed pods and colorful blooms
🇲🇬 Madagascar and 7 more · Herb or useful flower
Golden wattleAcacia pycnantha
Australia's national flower, with fluffy golden blooms and sickle-shaped phyllodes
🇦🇺 Australia and 7 more · Flowering tree
KouCordia subcordata
A coastal flowering tree with orange blooms and buoyant fruit
🇦🇺 Australia and 7 more · Flowering tree
Sweet acaciaVachellia farnesiana
A thorny shrub or small tree with fragrant yellow flowers used in perfumery
🇲🇽 Mexico and 7 more · Flowering shrub
KōwhaiSophora
New Zealand’s iconic yellow-flowered native tree
🇳🇿 New Zealand · Flowering tree
SaffronCrocus sativus
The crimson threads of an autumn crocus, dried for colour, flavour and scent
🇮🇷 Iran and 6 more · Bulb flower
BalsamImpatiens balsamina
The old-fashioned annual whose ripe seed pods burst at a touch
🇮🇳 India and 7 more · Garden flower
KōwhaiSophora microphylla
New Zealand’s bright yellow flowering tree with weeping branches
🇳🇿 New Zealand · Flowering tree
Gardenia
A fragrant white-flowered shrub from tropical regions worldwide
🇨🇳 China and 6 more · Flowering shrub
Sulphur cosmosCosmos sulphureus
A tall annual with yellow, orange, or red daisy-like blooms
🇲🇽 Mexico and 7 more · Wildflower
Spanish broomSpartium junceum
A tall shrub with rush-like stems and fragrant yellow flowers
🇵🇪 Peru and 6 more · Flowering shrub
Giant waterlilyVictoria
Large-leaved aquatic plant with floating flowers and edible parts
Victoria · Water flower
Cockspur Coral TreeErythrina crista-galli
A red-flowered tree, national symbol of Argentina and Uruguay
🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 more · Flowering tree
Indian coral treeErythrina variegata
A thorny tree with scarlet flowers, grown across Asia and the Pacific
🇧🇷 Brazil and 7 more · Flowering tree
Flame lilyGloriosa superba
A striking red and yellow climbing flower, national emblem of Zimbabwe and Tamil Nadu
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe and 9 more · Wildflower
French marigoldTagetes patula
A small marigold with yellow to orange blooms, valued in gardens and Georgian cooking
🇲🇽 Mexico and 3 more · Wildflower
Love-lies-bleedingAmaranthus caudatus
Tall Andean plant with long, drooping red or white flower clusters
🇵🇪 Peru and 8 more · Wildflower
MeadowsweetFilipendula ulmaria
A tall, sweet-scented wildflower of damp meadows in Europe and western Asia
🇦🇹 Austria · Wildflower
Pacific dogwoodCornus nuttallii
White-bracted tree native to the forests of western North America
🇺🇸 United States · Flowering tree
Tigridia pavonia
A striking summer bulb with three-petalled blooms and bold central markings
🇲🇽 Mexico and 6 more · Wildflower
Sydney golden wattleAcacia longifolia
A fast-growing Australian shrub or tree with golden flower spikes and bead-like seed pods
🇦🇺 Australia and 3 more · Flowering shrub
Aztec marigoldTagetes erecta
The golden-yellow flower of Mexican altars and Day of the Dead offerings
🇲🇽 Mexico and 6 more · Wildflower
StelleraStellera chamaejasme
A poisonous alpine flower of Central and East Asia, grown for its showy heads
🇨🇳 China and 5 more · Wildflower
Butterfly peaClitoria ternatea
A climbing herb with vivid blue flowers used for dye, tea and soil improvement
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 8 more · Climber
Guizotia abyssinica
An annual herb grown for its oil-rich seeds and yellow flower heads
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 6 more · Wildflower
Bermuda buttercupOxalis pes-caprae
A bright yellow-flowered plant with a sharp, sour taste
🇿🇦 South Africa and 3 more · Wildflower
MahuaMadhuca longifolia
A tropical tree with sweet edible flowers and oil-rich seeds
🇮🇳 India and 4 more · Flowering tree
Calotropis procera
A tall, toxic shrub with balloon-like fruit and silky seed fibers
🇦🇴 Angola and 7 more · Wildflower
Bengal trumpetThunbergia grandiflora
A climbing vine with large blue-violet trumpet flowers from Southeast Asia
🇮🇳 India and 7 more · Climber
Millettia
A group of shrubs, climbers, and trees from tropical forests of Africa and Asia
Millettia · Wildflower
Decoration
Kalamkariవ్రాత పని
Hand-painted and block-printed cottons from Andhra Pradesh using natural dyes
🇮🇳 India · Art or design
SnapdragonAntirrhinum
Garden flowers with dragon-shaped blooms that open when squeezed
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 more · Garden flower
Poppy
Bright-petalled flowers grown for gardens, seeds, and remembrance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
Common rueRuta graveolens
A strong-scented Mediterranean herb with blue-green leaves and yellow flowers
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 8 more · Wildflower
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Saffron: Hubertl, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kōwhai: Andy McKay, CC BY 4.0, source
- Gardenia: Queerbubbles, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sulphur cosmos: Alejandro Bayer Tamayo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Spanish broom: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Giant waterlily: Unknown author, CC BY 1.0, source
- Cockspur Coral Tree: Pablo Bombín, CC0, source
- Indian coral tree: Yu-Ju Chang, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Flame lily: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, source
- French marigold: Muhammad Mahdi Karim, GFDL 1.2, source
- Love-lies-bleeding: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Meadowsweet: AnRo0002, CC0, source
- Pacific dogwood: Walter Siegmund, CC BY 2.5, source
- Tigridia pavonia: Lorbeer, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, source
- Sydney golden wattle: josh jackson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Aztec marigold: HitroMilanese, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Stellera: Jan Reurink, CC BY 2.0, source
- Butterfly pea: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Guizotia abyssinica: Silvestresbrasileiros, Public domain, source
- Bermuda buttercup: M ath K night and Zachi Evenor אביר המתמטיקה וצחי אבנור, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mahua: Nvvchar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Calotropis procera: Wilfredo Rodríguez, CC0, source
- Bengal trumpet: Don McCulley, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Millettia: L. Shyamal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kalamkari: Anilbhardwajnoida, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Snapdragon: Sabina Bajracharya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Poppy: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Common rue: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sausage tree: Photographs: Ettore Balocchi (upper left), Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Desfontainia: Solereder?, Public domain, source
- Impatiens: Cj.samson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Golden wattle: Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kou: Tauʻolunga, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sweet acacia: Judgefloro, Public domain, source
- Kōwhai: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Balsam: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source