I have noticed that when liquidambar leaves fall to the pavement and get wet, they leave a dark smudge. I suspected that this might mean that they were a natural dye plant, but have never been able to find any mention of them in books or on line.
After years of curiosity, I finally got some fresh leaves and dyed some fleece with alum. They produced as nice and rich a gold as any I have ever seen. I wonder why this tree is not commonly mentioned as a dye source. Merry Luskin, Oakland CA Reference librarian and handspinner Great site: Librarians' Index to the Internet http://lii.org __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
