Maple bark

Norway maple Acer platanoides

Description

Bark from Norway maple trees (Acer platanoides) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum). Red maple bark gives a pale gray (cotton) to rose-tan (wool) color using an alum mordant. Changing mordants to copper sulfate produces a dark gray while chrome produces and beige color. Silver maple bark gives a tan color with alum and a black with copper. The drab colors from the maple bark dyes have good color fastness.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Norway maple trees (Acer platanoides); silver maple (Acer saccharinum); écorce d'érable (Fr.);

Authority

• R.J. Adrosko, Natural Dyes in the United States, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1968

• John and Margaret Cannon, Dye Plants and Dyeing, Herbert Press, London, 1994

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998