The Great Turnsole Quest

Cockatrice: The Lochac Arts and Sciences Magazine. Article from Issue 16 The Great Turnsole Quest by Mistress Roheisa le Sarjent Turnsole is a plant native to coastal Medi- shipped as far as Northern England and terranean countries, from which a purple were used by the illuminators of the Lin- dye was extracted and used as an illumi- disfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells2. nators pigment and a food colouring dur- Medieval pigment recipes instruct the art- ing the Middle Ages. The pigment was ist to soak a piece of turnsole (rag) in gum- also called ‘Folium‘ perhaps because the water or glair (beaten egg white) and wring long tailed ‘s‘ in Latin Torna-ad-soleum it out to release the dye3. has been confused with an ‘f‘ by later writers1. Turnsole or folium pigment is Turnsole apparently became a generic term more correctly a range of colours from for any rags of blue-red dye used in this blue through purple to red depending on way, whether they were made with the the PH of the solution. herb turnsole, or from grape juice, mul- berry juice, brazil wood, woad, cochineal, The History of Druggs by Monsieur lichen or anything else4. Pomet, published in 1709 gives a fine description: The One True Turnsole This Plant which we call Turnsole, the Finding the turnsole plant is not as easy at Greeks call Heliotropion, the Sun it may, at first, seem. Unfortunately the Follower, because its name has been applied to several plants Flower always turn to the Sun. It bears whose flowers or leaves “follow the sun”. There are at least two other plants com- Beries always three set together, not monly known as Turnsole and several oth- much unlike the ers with related names. Additionally our Palma christi; whence it is call’d by Pliny, quarry has been given several different Heliotropium Tricoccum, the Turnsole botanical names at one time or another, and with three had at least one change of botanical genus. Berries which when they are at their full (Croton to Euphorbiaciae) No nursery or seed Maturity, have within them, between the merchant I contacted had any idea what I outward was talking about and several tried fobbing Skin and the Kernel or Seed, a certain me off with one of the false turnsoles. Juice, or Moisture, which being rubbed upon Paper or The plant we are seeking is not the Greater Turnsole or Heliotrope5 (also called Potato Cloth, at first appears of a fresh and lively weed) described by the herbalist Nicholas green colour, but presently changes into a Culpepper6. That plant is Heliotropium kind of europaeum, from the family Boraginaceae, bluith Purple upon the Paper or Cloth; a relative of the herb Borage. Although it and the same Cloth afterwards wet in is a low growing weedy annual like the true Water or white Turnsole, it does not bear tri-lobed berries Wine and wrung forth, will strike the and has no dye properties. said Water or wine into a red or Claret- wine Colour. Nor is it Litmus7, also called Turnsole or Or- chil. This is the lichen, Roccella tinctoria, that In other words the juice was extracted also produces a dye used for illumination from the turnsole fruit, soaked into cloth during the Middle Ages. It too ranges from rags and later extracted for use, in this blue through purple to red depending on PH case, as a food colouring. This process al- levels, as do many other vegetable dyes, in- lowed the seasonal dyestuff to be pre- cluding the juice of red cabbage. Litmus was served and stored or exported to countries used to make the original Litmus paper and where the plant did not grow. As early as the word derives from the Old Norse litmosi, the 7th century turnsole rags were being (litr = color or dye + mosi = bog or moss).

It is not Heliotrope8, also called Turnsole it is a naturalised weed in Australia, par- or Cherry Pie. This is Heliotropium Peruvi- ticularly WA and SA and has been reported ana or Heliotropium arborescens, a garden in the North American states of Alabama plant popular with the Victorians. It is a and Maryland.12 native of Peru, and was introduced to Europe in 1735. It grows up to 4 feet tall Identifying and has purplish-blue (turnsole coloured) “Chrozophora tinctoria” flowers that give off a sweet almond/va- The plant is a low growing annual herb that nilla fragrance reminiscent of Cherry pie. flowers about November to March in the It is some times used in perfume but has southern hemisphere or June to September no dye properties. in the northern hemisphere. The leaves are a uniform green, about the colour of a po- Nor is our plant the common Sunflower tato plant, with a grey/green woolly un- from which we get sunflower seeds and derside. They vary in shape and size, the sunflower oil. This plant is Helianthus smaller ones looking similar to basil, the annuus and is a native of western North larger ones being more like a heater America, which was introduced into Eu- shield.13 On the back of the large leaves you rope in the 16th century. may see a “crows foot” where the paler stem meets the leaf, then spreads into three The plant we are looking for is in fact prominent claw-like leaf veins. The flower Chrozophora tinctoria ({L} A. Juss. ex Spreng spikes look rather like stumpy grey-green formerly Croton tinctorium, {Linné} heads of wheat. The male buds are at the Tournesolia tinctoria, {Baillon} or tip of the flower spike, while the female Heliotropium Tricoccum {Pliny})9. It should flowers show as a few bright yellow petals not be confused with Chrozophora plicata, a towards the base of the spike. The seed cap- related but non-dye bearing species. From sules or fruit are grey-green and knobbly the Euphorbiaciae family it is, as Monsieur like a miniature horse chestnut or a tiny In a dark damp place lay rich garden soil on a tray and get “a healthy man who has been drinking wine copiously to urinate on the earth”. The turnsole rags are then placed on a drying rack in the fumes of the urine and left for several days. Pomet so cleverly guessed, distantly cousin mace head, except that they have three dis- to the Palma Christi or Castor Bean. Thank- tinctive lobes. The juice squeezed from the fully it is not poisonous like Castor Bean, ripe fruit will start out green or bluish green source of the lethal ricin toxin. but will soon change to a deep inky blue and shift though purple to red as it dries.14 Gerard’s Herbal calls it Heliotropium mi- nus or Small Torne-sole and says that How did they make “…with the small Tornsole they in France Turnsole Rags? doe die linnen rags and clouts into a per- One of the most detailed medieval recipes, fect purple colour, wherewith cookes and from the Neapolitan De Arte Illuminandi of confectioners doe colour iellies, wines, the late fourteenth century, instructs that meates, and sundry confectures...”10 the tri-lobed seeds are to be picked care- fully off their stems, without bruising, and Generally considered a weed, Chrozophora squeezed in a linen cloth to extract the juice. tinctoria has many common names includ- Pieces of clean linen or muslin, having first ing dyer’s-croton (English) been soaked in a lye of water and quick- giradol (Spanish), maurelle (French) lime (calcium oxide) washed and dried, are lackmuskraut (German), akbas (Turkish) then soaked in the turnsole juice for a day and Faqqoos el-homaar (Arabic). In Tur- and a night. Now comes the fun part. In a key it has long been used as a source of dark damp place (like a basement) one lays dye for Turkish carpets and in Palestine rich garden soil on a tray and has “a healthy is used, much like henna, to dye the fin- man who has been drinking wine copi- gernails. It grows on dry fallow land, ously urinate on the earth”. The juice amongst crops such as wheat or onions, soaked cloths are then placed on a drying and in vineyards. Found in most Medi- rack in the fumes of the urine and left for terranean and Middle Eastern countries11, several days. The object of this colourful

Article: Copyright 2002 Belinda Sibly. Design and Layout: Copyright 2006 Caitlin Macpherson. Cockatrice: The Lochac Arts and Sciences Magazine. Article from Issue 16 procedure is to expose the cloths to an alka- with more hygienic variations of the tradi- line environment so as to push up the PH tional recipes, perhaps adding a little dy- level. (Adding an alkaline solution to the ers alum to the juice or drying the cloths juice does not seem to work so well) This (in a dark place) over paper towels soaked fixes the colour in the blue/purple tones, in an ammonia based cleaning product. and if not done correctly means the cloths Make notes of what you do and the will spoil and become red. Finally the cloths amounts of everything you use so that, if are stored in a dry acid free environment or successful, you can pass your recipes on to again they will tend to turn red15. others. Be sure to store your rags in a dry alkaline environment e.g. a glass jar with a Turnsole-in-rags was still being produced little baking soda in the bottom, or between for export in the south of France in the 19th sheets of acid free blotting paper.18 century16. A detailed description of the industry at Grand-Gallargures in 1839 by the I would be most grateful for any samples French writer N. Joly explains that at the you can send, as alas I am not allowed to turnsole fruits were squeezed in a press, grow the plant in New Zealand due to this the juice mixed with urine, and the cloths countries strict quarantine restrictions. I soaked, dried and then sandwiched in hay would also like to pass the details of your which was placed over deep beds of fer- experiments and any samples on to Dr menting horse dung. They were re-soaked John Friedman, an expert in medieval and dried over dung again to achieve the manuscripts and folium in particular, to desired dark purple. This industry died out whom I am indebted for much of this in- when chemists discovered easier ways to formation on Turnsole. You can e-mail me make food colouring. at [email protected] Please do not send any live plant samples or include any baking soda with your turnsole rags. I The Turnsole Quest don’t want to be the cause of a quarantine Since poor old turnsole has been all but incident or anthrax scare. forgotten and is not available through your average nursery or seed catalogue your Happy questing, mission, should you accept it, is to find this plant in the wild and help restore it to it’s Rowena proper place as a dye herb. Many of the scribes I talked to in researching this arti- 1/ Friedman, John B. Northern English cle responded with “I don’t know where Books. Appendix A, The Pigment Folium. you get it, but can you get me some too” so Notes I suspect there is a small market for a re- 2/ Freidman pg 235 vived turnsole industry. Please read over the description again and if you are roam- 3/ Singman J.L. and Jennings D. Some reci- ing in out of the way places keep your eyes pes for Colors, T. I. Issue 112 open. Should you find what you think is Chrozophora tinctoria, make careful note of 4/ Monsieur Pomet http:// exactly where and when you found it, and bookofherbs.org/t/Turnsole_In_Rags_ if possible get photographs. Contact me, 1286.htm Mistress Rowena Le Sarjent (Belinda Sibly) at the address below or let your local Illu- 5/ Pictures at http:// minators or Herbalists Guild know about www.vsap.uq.edu.au/Student/toxicol/ it. If you have permission from the land- Pages/Page20.htm owner you could dig up a plant and take it home to grow in a pot or in your garden. 6/ Culpepper http:// (Make sure you dig up the whole root ball www.bibliomania.com/2/1/66/113/ or the plant may not survive) Otherwise 21225/1/frameset.html you can gather the seeds for growing or the fruit to attempt making turnsole rags.17 7/ Litmus http://www.botanical.com/ botanical/mgmh/l/litmus35.html The re-creationist trying to produce 8/ Pictures at http://www.dulley.com/ turnsole rags might want to experiment plant/a056.shtml

Black, J.M Flora of South Australia Part II 9/ Maisch, John M. http://chili.rt66.com/ (second edition) 1963 Pg 515. hrbmoore/AJP/AJP_1885_No_12.pdf. and Pomet Friedman, John B. Northern English Books, Owners, and Makers in the Late Middle 10/ Gerard, John. Gerard’s Herball http:/ Ages, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse /members.aol.com/renfrowcm/ N.Y. 1995 gerardp1.html Gerard, John. Gerard’s Herball or General 11/ GRIN Taxonomy http://www.ars- Historie of Plantes 1633, http:// grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/ members.aol.com/renfrowcm/ taxon.pl?400209, Tackholm, V., Baplar S, gerardp1.html and Pomet. Global Compendium of Weeds http:// 12/ Black, J.M. and The National Plants www.hear.org/gcw/index.html Database http://plants.usda.gov/ Maisch, John M. AMERICAN JOURNAL 13/ Pictures at http://www.ujf- OF PHARMACY Volume 57, #12, Decem- grenoble.fr/JAL/bota/frambota.htm and ber, 1885 Botanical Medicine Monographs at http://www.agro.bayer.gr/ and Sundry – On Indigenous Species of zizaniainfo.asp?zizania_id=23&ziz_ Croton, Read at the Pharmaceutical Meet- category_id=6, Download the second one ing, November 17, 1885. http:// for a proper view. chili.rt66.com/hrbmoore/AJP/ AJP_1885_No_12.pdf. 14/ Freidman, J. See comments by Wallert A. pg 232-233 National Plants Database http:// plants.usda.gov/ 15/ Thompson and also Freidman. Pomet, (P.). A compleat history of druggs, 16/ Freidman, J. Appendix A written in French by Monsieur Pomet Done into English from the originals. 2nd edition. 17/ Please don’t transport seeds or pants London, printed for R. and J. Bonwicke, across State lines without checking if there 1724. http://bookofherbs.org/t/ are quarantine regulation for Chrozophora Turnsole_In_Rags_1286.htm tinctoria. Singman J.L. and Jennings D. Tournaments 18/ Friedman Appendix A for notes on Illuminated, Issue 112, Fall 1994, Some reci- other attempt to produce folium. pes for Colors, a collection of recipes from MS Porkington 10 published by in Baplar S. An Investigation on Halliwell, J.O. Early English Miscellanies Chrozophora tinctoria (L.) Rafin. Distrib- in Prose and Verse. Warton Club. 1855 References uted in West Anatolia ,Turkish Journal of Botany Volume 24, Issue 2, (2000) Tackhlom, V. Students Flora of Egypt, Sec- http://mistug.tetm.tubitak.gov.tr/ ond edition Cairo University, Cairo 1974. ~bdyim/toc.php3?dergi=bot&yilsayi= Quoted at http://www.arasi.free 2000/2 servers.com/species/c/chrozophora _tinctoria.htm Baplar S & Mert HH. Studies on the Ecol- ogy of Chrozophora tinctoria L.and Rubia Thompson, D. V. and Hamilton G. H. eds. tinctorum L. in Western Anatolia. Turk- An Anonymous Fourteenth Century De ish Journal of Botany, Volume 23(1), Arte Illuinandi. New Haven. Yale Uni http://mistug.tetm.tubitak.gov.tr/ Press, 1933 ~bdyim/sayilar.php3?dergi=bot