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Long spikes of yellow white flowers
Home Learning Trails for Adults Dyes from Plants Reseda luteola (Weld)
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Reseda luteola (Weld)

Long spikes of yellow white flowers

A native of Europe and western Asia, weld (also called dyer’s rocket) is a dye plant that has been traded for many centuries. Seeds have been found in Neolithic villages in Switzerland, where it is assumed to have been used for its dye. Weld provided Romans with a bright yellow dye used to dye the robes of the Vestal Virgins, priestesses in ancient Rome. The dyers of Lincoln, known for colouring wool with woad, created the eponymous Lincoln green of Robin Hood fame by overdyeing the blue wool with yellow weld.

Next: Alcea rosea ‘Nigra’ (Hollyhock)
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