Historical Data
Pliny the Elder recorded that dyer's sumac was used in antiquity to dye leather. The smoke tree venation sumac, the source of the dye called young fustic, is native to southern Europe, the Middle East, India and China. This shrublike tree has been known since the time of the Roman Empire. Young fustic was used in Europe during the Middle Ages and was still of great importance in the economy of poor Provincial villages early last century. However, young fustic as a dye is not readily available today. Fisetin, the main dye ingredient of young fustic or dyer's sumach, was found in an Ottoman court carpet in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art in Istanbul.
