Dyer's Greenweed

Genista tinctoria

COMMON NAMES

• Dyer's Broom
• Dyer's Greenweed

The dyer’s greenweed is a permanently growing shrub that resembles a broom and normally develops up to a height of 60 cm or two feet. The plant has firm branches with uncomplicated and interchanging leaves that appear like spears. The length of the leaves normally range between half to one inch and have soft stalks. The sprouts or tender branches of the plant have pointed ends that bear yellow colored and pea-shaped blooms which begin to blossom in the month of July. The dyer’s greenweed flowers are half to three-fourth inch long and supported by little stalks that are smaller that the calyx. As in the case of the broom, dyer’s greenweed flowers ‘blow up’ during visits by insects. The ‘hooks’ of the four base petals of the flowers are initially straight, but heavily strained and hence no sooner they are touched, they suddenly whorl downwards allowing the flower to split open. Once the flowers fade, tender pods appear in their place. These pods are around one inch long and highly condensed crossways. The color of the pods turn brown on ripening and each pod normally encloses 5 to 10 seeds.

In French, the dyer’s greenweed shrub is known as Genêt des Teinturiers, while the Germans call the plant as Färberginster. During the 14th century, dyer’s greenweed was known as Wede-wixin or Woud-wix in English and was later re-christened as Woad Waxen. In fact, we even find that the plant was known as Green Weed or Dyer’s Weed in English long time ago.

The shrub is of a dwarf or midget variety and grows in bunches. Dyer’s greenweed is found in abundance in the pastures almost all over England and is believed to make the poor soil fertile. Occasionally, cows grazing in the meadows consume this shrub and in such instances the plant imparts a bitter flavor to their milk. Even the cheese and butter prepared from the milk of cows that have consumed the shrub tastes horrible.

All parts of the dyer’s greenweed shrub, particularly the blossoming tops of the shrub, produce an excellent quality yellowish dye that has been used by dyers since ages to manufacture this particular pigment. This pigment is especially used to dye wool and when it is blended with woad (a blue plant dye), the combination produces a brilliant green color. This color is made permanent by adding alum, cream of tartar or potassium bitartrate and sulphate of lime to the dye. In the olden days, poor people in some regions of England collected large quantities of the shrub from the meadows and sold them to the dyers to make a living.

In 1708, Tournefort had witnessed the method of dyeing cloth, linen, woolen and even leather using the pigment obtained from dyer’s greenweed in the Samos Island and explained the matter in detail. Interestingly enough, in many regions of the Grecian islands, the same dyeing process is still followed by the dyers. In the olden days, even the Romans had extensively used the dyer’s greenweed shrub to dye clothes and leather in the same procedure and this has been documents by several ancient Roman writers.

In addition to be extremely useful as a source of high quality dye, the dyer’s greenweed also possesses several medicinal properties. Although the herb has never been acclaimed as a formal medicine, the blossoming tops as well as the seeds of the plant have been exploited therapeutically. The plant is known to have diuretic, cathartic and emetic properties and is often prescribed for enhancing urine outflow and as a purgative. The powdered seeds of the plant function as a gentle laxative, while a decoction prepared with the plant is often used therapeutically to heal dropsy or edema (build up of unwarranted fluids between the body tissues). The same decoction is also said to be beneficial in curing gout (swollen joints) and rheumatism (stiffness of joints and muscles) when ingested in dosages of a wine glassful thrice or four times daily.

The decoction prepared with dyer’s greenweed may also be used with the cinders obtained from an alkaline salt to treat dropsy as well as other disorders, while a cream prepared with the dwarf shrub was known as Unguentum geneste. In the earlier days, the seeds of the plant formed an important ingredient in a plaster to repair disjointed limbs. Although there is not enough scientific evidence to support the claims, in the Ukraine, a decoction prepared with the dyer’s greenweed was believed to be an effective medicine for treating hydrophobia.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Dyer’s greenweed is indigenous to the Mediterranean region, especially in Europe, and the western regions of Asia. The herb has also been acclimatized to the conditions in North America. Normally, dyer’s greenweed is found to be growing naturally in the moorland and uneven meadows.

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