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Ecology, Beauty, Profits: Trade in Lichen‐based Dyestuffs through Western History
Author(s) -
Perkins Patricia
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of the society of dyers and colourists
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1478-4408
pISSN - 0037-9859
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-4408.1986.tb01073.x
Subject(s) - lichen , overexploitation , beauty , commodity , economics , ecology , raw material , natural resource economics , biology , market economy , philosophy , epistemology
This paper summarises what is known about the production and trade in orchil, viewing the dyestuffas an economic commodity. The slow‐growing ecologically sensitive lichens that furnish the raw material for the dyestuff were susceptible to overharvesting and depletion, and there is evidence to indicate that restricted availability of lichen supplies may have limited the use and trade of orchil at several points in history.