Historical Data
Sicilian sumac has been used since antiquity more for tanning than for dyeing. On cotton, lightfast dyes with sumac can have different colours: madder red or dyer's-weed yellow. The red berries have a vinegary flavor and are used in Turkey as a spice.On an alum mordant, yellow from the bark, leaves and shoots; on a ferrous mordant, grey to black from the leaves and shoots.
