kihada 黄蘗

A yellow vegetable dye. Also called kiwada, ōbaku. The dye is taken from the bark of the philodendron (Philodendron amurense Rupr.), a deciduous tree of the mandarin family, which grows wild in cold mountain areas of Japan such as Hokkaidō 北海道 and Tōhoku 東北. The bark is dried, crushed, boiled for two to three hours and then left to settle for two to three days. Used without a mordant the dye-color is a bright lemon yellow. An iron mordant gives a light olive color *hiwa-iro 鶸色 after a single dip, and an olive color *miru-iro 海松色 after several dips. Kihada is top-dyed on indigo *ai 藍 to produce grass green *moegi-iro 萌葱色 and on sappanwood *suō 蘇芳 to produce madder red *akane-iro 茜色.