Historical Data
In Turkey and other countries in the temperate zone in both the New and the Old World , there is only one significant dyeplant for brown: the more than twenty species of the walnut family, Juglans. The outer husks of the nuts and the leaves have been used since ancient times to produce a brown dye. In antiquity, Greek and Roman writers mentioned the cultivation of walnut trees. Pliny gives a recipe for dyeing grey hair to brown. The Romans brought the tree from Greece to Italy and later across the Alps, first to France , then to Germany . From the expression Welsh nut (foreign nut), in both English and German, the names walnut and Walnuss developed. Many sources report its use as a brown dye for wool. Use of the dried husks for dyeing continues to this day in Turkey , Iran , and other countries, where the husks are sold for this purpose.