Some interest colors
Pomegranate Tree (nar), Yellow to bronish yellow and brown to black: This tree grows in the mild regions of Western, Southwestern, and Northeastern Anatolia. It's a tall tree with a height of up to 40 meters, with branches that are spiny with very shiny, lance-shaped, dark green leaves. Its beautiful pinkish-violet flowers easily distinguish it. During autumn, the tree bears a fruit with many seeds, which is the yellow-red skinned pomegranate. The fresh or dried skin of the fruit is used for dyeing. If an alum mordant is used, along with the skin, a yellow brownish shade will result. If an iron mordant is used, a brownish-black shade will result. In Oriental carpets and kilims, the pomegranate is a symbol of fertility and abundance because of it's many seeds.
Buckhorn (Cehri), Deep Yellow: This plant grows only in Turkey on slopes with altitude up to 3000 meters (9843 feet). Before the 20th century, it was mainly cultivated in Central Anatolia (Konya, Kirsehir, Sivas, Ankara and Kaiser). To day only wild shrubs grow along roadsides, in fields and vineyards at Urgup, Corum and Kahramanmaras, which are areas of farmer cultivation. The unripe fruits, fresh or dried are used to create the dyes. When an alum mordant is used, a deep yellow will result. This deep yellow from the dried fruits is mainly used for dyeing silk. This color dye is often used to obtain secondary and tertiary colors.
Supurge (Sutlegen), Yellow: This plant grows throughout Turkey. The entire plants contain a milky juice in its narrow, undivided leaves and clusters of blossoms. Some varieties bloom during the late summer and early autumn. All parts of the plant, except the roots are used for creating this yellow dye. This dye is frequently detected in cottage industry carpets of Anatolia mainly in the Daskiri, Maden and Ortakoy carpets.
Bast Hemp (Gence), Brilliant Yellow: This dye is not used as often as other yellow dyes. This plant grows on the mountains of Central and Eastern Anatolia. The brilliant yellow color is common in older flat weaves. The strong color is often mistaken for a chemical dye and for this reason it's not popular in Western Anatolia Workshops where weavers cater to foreign market. In Eastern Anatolia, Lake Van area, the kilims are produced for local consumers who prefer bright colors and are less concerned about the distinctions between chemical and natural dyes.
Wild Camomile (Beyaz Papaya), Yellow: During March, in Western and Southern Anatolia, this Camomile plant will cover entire fields with fresh blossoms. With alum mordant, a clear yellow dye will be obtained.
Tree-Leafed Sage (Ada cayi), Yellow: This herb can be found in most Mediterranean regions. It blooms on the dry hillsides from March up Until August. It is distinctive its tall flowering spikes of mauve or pinkish two-lipped flowers. The leaves and stamps, either fresh or dried, are suitable for dyeing. Plants are just one of many sources from which to obtain natural dyes. To obtain a natural dye the plant is boiled to extract the color. Next, to ensure the absorption of the color in to the wool a second plant or natural salt is mixed with the dye. This second plant or salt is known as the mordant.
A mordant prevents bedding or running of colors thus it fixes the color. If a chemical salt is used as mordant the dye is still called natural. When alum is used as mordant alone with madder a pale red is obtained because alum is a natural light salt. But if iron is used as a mordant a deep red or burgundy is produced. The choice of mordant determines the color of dye. Today, some people believe that there are no natural dyes because of certain chemicals, which are used as mordents. Mordents are form from natural chemicals of the earth not synthetically produced, so when they are added to natural dyes they act as a fixing agent and produced the color desired by the weaver.
