Madder Roots
Rubia Tinctorum
Highest quality Persian origin.
High alizarin and pseudopurpurin dye content. Makes deep red dye for textiles.
The dye is also used in the manufacture of madder lake and rose madder pigments.
Persian Madder has been used since ancient times as a red dye for leather, wool, cotton, and silk.
Madder is a perennial plant with evergreen leaves and yellow flower that is cultivated for its 1-2 metre length rhizomes from which the active dye compounds, alizarin and pseudopurpurin are drawn. The plants must be at least three years old before their roots are selectively cut from the plant. The outer red layer gives the common variety of the dye, the inner yellow layer of the refined variety.
Although generally used to make red dye colours, the use of mordants and other dye bath techniques allows for the creation of yellow, orange, pink and purple shades.