Reseda luteola
Encyclopedia
Reseda luteola is a plant species in the genus Reseda. Common names include dyer's rocket, dyer's weed, weld, woold, and yellow weed. A native of Eurasia, the plant can be found in North America as an introduced species
and common weed
.
While other resedas were used for the purpose, this species was the most widely used source of the natural dye
known as weld. The plant is rich in luteolin
, a flavonoid
which produces a bright yellow dye
. The yellow could be mixed with the blue from woad (Isatis tinctoria) to produce greens such as Lincoln green
. The dye was in use by the first millennium BC, and perhaps earlier than either woad or madder
. Use of this dye came to an end at the beginning of the twentieth century, when cheaper synthetic yellow dyes came into use. France exported large quantities of weld.
It prefers waste places. Good weld for dye must have flowers of a beautiful yellow or greenish color, and abound in leaves; that which is small, thin-stemmed, and yellow is better than that which is large, thick-stemmed, and green; that which grows on dry, sandy soils is better than that produced on rich and moist soils. For the greatest production of coloring matter, the plant should be cut before the fruits show much development, otherwise the pigment diminishes. Dye from weld serves equally for linen
, wool
en, and silk
, dyeing with proper management all shades of yellow, and producing a bright and beautiful color.
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and common weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
.
While other resedas were used for the purpose, this species was the most widely used source of the natural dye
Natural dye
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources – roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood — and other organic sources such as fungi and lichens....
known as weld. The plant is rich in luteolin
Luteolin
Luteolin is a yellow crystalline compound. It is a flavonoid; to be specific, it is one of the more common flavones. From preliminary research, it is thought to play a role in the human body possibly as an antioxidant, a free radical scavenger, a promoter of carbohydrate metabolism, or an immune...
, a flavonoid
Flavonoid
Flavonoids , are a class of plant secondary metabolites....
which produces a bright yellow dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
. The yellow could be mixed with the blue from woad (Isatis tinctoria) to produce greens such as Lincoln green
Lincoln green
Lincoln green is the color of dyed woollen cloth associated with Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. The dyers of Lincoln, a cloth town in the high Middle Ages, produced the cloth by dyeing it with woad to give it a strong blue, then overdyeing it yellow with weld or...
. The dye was in use by the first millennium BC, and perhaps earlier than either woad or madder
Madder
Rubia is a genus of the madder family Rubiaceae, which contains about 60 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and sub-shrubs native to the Old World, Africa, temperate Asia and America...
. Use of this dye came to an end at the beginning of the twentieth century, when cheaper synthetic yellow dyes came into use. France exported large quantities of weld.
It prefers waste places. Good weld for dye must have flowers of a beautiful yellow or greenish color, and abound in leaves; that which is small, thin-stemmed, and yellow is better than that which is large, thick-stemmed, and green; that which grows on dry, sandy soils is better than that produced on rich and moist soils. For the greatest production of coloring matter, the plant should be cut before the fruits show much development, otherwise the pigment diminishes. Dye from weld serves equally for linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
en, and silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
, dyeing with proper management all shades of yellow, and producing a bright and beautiful color.