Madder

Madder (Rubia), a genus of plants of the natural order Rubiaceæ. The species are found in the tropical and warmer temperate parts of both the Old and New Worlds, and from early times till recently were important for the colouring matter of their roots, especially for dyeing Turkey-red. The most important is the Common Madder or Dyer's Madder (R. tinctorum), a native probably of the south of Europe as well as of Asia. It is a perennial, with weak stems and whorls of four to six elliptic or lanceolate glossy leaves, the stem and leaves rough with sharp prickles, small greenish-yellow flowers, and black fruit. Munjeet, or Indian Madder (R. munjista or cordifolia), ranks next to it in importance. R. peregrina, found in the south-west of England, and called Wild Madder, is very similar to R. tinctorum. Since the discovery of artificial Alizarin (q.v.) the commercial importance of madder has rapidly decreased (see DYEING, Vol. IV. p. 138). In 1875, 126,152 cwt. were imported into Britain (value £410,993); but in 1888 (with munjeet, garancine) only 14,204 cwt. (value £18,997).