Weld ( T)

16. Weld Reseda luteola  T

Gaelic: Lus buidhe mor

Other names: dyers rocket, dyers weed, woold, yellow weed

Native to Europe and western Asia

Tall Biennial plant which prefers waste places and produces better dye on dry sandy soil.

In use as a dye by the first millennium BC, possibly predates either woad or madder (the other two of the three ‘grands teints’. Popular from Roman times until fustic and quercitron were introduced into Europe from the Americas. Historically, cultivated in England and France, which exported large quantities of weld. High concentrations of weld seed have been found in 12th and 14th century sites in England, and a medieval site in Perth. (harvesting weld for dyeing often results in large amounts of seed being shed in the dying area. Known to have been imported into eastern Scotland in the 17th century and  growing in waste places and also cultivated in parts of Scotland in the mid 18th century although as dyers in the West Highlands had access to good yellows from bog myrtle and heather they had no need of weld – which would not grow well in damp acidic soils of the region.

Dye: Traditionally the most respected source of bright yellow dyes . Regarded as the most light- and wash-fast yellow natural dye. The most used yellow dye until the discovery of synthetic aniline dyes in the late 19th century.

Used with woad (blue) to produce greens including the traditional colour Lincoln Green