Forest product
Oak galls
Picture to come.
Round growths on oak twigs caused by gall wasps, rich in tannin. Crushed and mixed with iron salts, water and gum, they made iron-gall ink, the main writing ink of the medieval West; they were also used in black dyes. The hard 'marble galls' now common on English oaks arrived only in the 1840s. Medieval scribes used imported galls, especially from the eastern Mediterranean, and possibly native galls too.
Caveats (confidence: medium)
Which native English galls, if any, were used for 12th-century ink is uncertain.
Sources: wythamwoods.ox.ac.uk · en.wikipedia.org
Made by
- Fell timber
- Cut coppice
- Forage