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PART USED LEAVES, TWIGS, FLOWERS for dye. Harvest anytime.
Used by the Navajo of North America to produce DYE.
YELLOW dye is produced in the following manner: Boil 3 lbs of leaves. twigs, and blossoms in 6 gallons of water for 1 to 2 hours. Strain. Add 1/2 cup raw alum and stir well while boiling for 10 minutes. Add 1 lb of yarn and stir again. Boil for 1 to 3 hours, depending on depth of color desired. Leave in dyebath to deepen and brighten the color. Rinse.
To produce CANARY YELLOW boil the yarn only for 1/2 hour and remove.
To produce MUSTARD YELLOW prepare as above, but use a tin or aluminum pot.
An evergreen shrub of the western United States to 6 feet, being dioecious. LEAVES are alternate, sessile, linear spatulate to 2 inches long with revolute margins. The BRACTS have 4 conspicuous wings or crests. FLOWERS are rose colored appearing on clustered spikes. §