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← Powdery mildew taxonomy
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Dye Lichens

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Immy

The Herbarium (RNG) has been assisting me in drawing lichens for a Reading Science Week art Exhibition called ‘Symbiosis’. Recently I’ve been focusing on lichen species used in traditional dying. Below are some images including photos of me drawing taken by Reading’s Dr M! Ochrolechia and Roccella spp have been historically used in making ‘cudbear’ and ‘orchil’ purple dyes, by processing with ammonia to convert precursor lichen substances to orcein. Parmelia spp have also been used in making ‘crotal’, a yellowish to brown dye.

Its quite challenging to find modern reference sources for lichen dyes (and I’d be interested to hear from anyone with any experience), however, one that has proved useful to us on this project is ‘Lichen Dyes: The New Sourcebook’ by Karen Casselman and there is interesting historical information in ‘Vanishing Lichens: Their History, Biology and Importance’ by D.M. Richardson – one of my favourite lichen books, now out of print but its very easy to get a second hand copy cheaply via sites like AbeBooks or Amazon.

027_Ochrolechia_tartarea_bkgd herbarium1Draw1 Draw 3

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About Immy

I'm an artist and former neuroscientist, and I'm a visiting artist at Herbarium RNG at the University of Reading, UK. I'm interested in natural forms and textures, and the overlaps between biological images and surreal art. You can see more of my work at www.immysmith.com and http://www.redbubble.com/people/immy and I'm @DrImmySmith on Twitter. I'm part of a science-art collaborative group called 'Imagining Science' and you can find out more at http://imaginingscienceart.blogspot.co.uk/
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This entry was posted in Herbarium RNG, Public Engagement with Science and tagged Art, art and biology, Lichen, lichen dyes, natural dyes, Reading University Herbarium, RNG, Symbiosis, The Symbiosis Project. Bookmark the permalink.
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Last reply was March 5, 2014
  1. The Symbiosis Project | Culham Research Group
    View March 5, 2014

    […] see Dye lichens and Lichens of the Pacific […]

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