"From a botanical point of view the Knobs are interesting because a number of plants from different physiographic regions reach their distribution limits in these isolated hills."1 Berea is also home to a solid craft community with over forty artisans practicing in various fields. A papermaker could not ask for a better place to live, though when we moved here, I had never given papermaking a second thought. I have been involved in crafts all my life, first as a full-time woodcarver and then as a basket maker. I was exposed to papermaking for the first time at a public demonstration on College Square shortly after we arrived in Berea. As I watched, the process of creating a solid sheet from a mass of swirling recycled fibers fascinated me. Dorie Hubbard, the demonstrator, was kind enough to teach me the basics of making paper from recycled fibers, but even then I had no intention of becoming a papermaker. I was satisfied creating a few envelopes and cards. Several months later, while attending a bookbinding workshop taught by Claudia Lee at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, I learned that paper could be created directly from plants. A display of student artwork at the Center featured plants alongside the paper made from the plants. Until that day, I was unaware that a hand papermaker could actually harvest and process plants into paper. I do not know why this fascinated me so much, but it did, and I left there with a strong desire to discover what kind of paper was hidden inside the plants that flourished around me. Having grown up with an intense curiosity about the world of nature, I was fortunate to have had a better-than-average background knowledge of local plants when I began harvesting them for papermaking. However, beyond milkweed, cattails, and daylilies, there was little information available about the papermaking qualities of other plants, at least the ones I wanted to try. Members of the Yahoo Papermaking group on the Internet were able to assist with my general papermaking questions, but few could offer advice on how to work with my locally available plants. I proceeded on a trial-and-error basis. While this process is a time-consuming way of learning any new field, I think in the long run you gain a broader base of knowledge. When you are taught, you learn what you are taught and that is it. You are satisfied with the results and have no need to explore further. When you learn by experimentation, you make mistakes and are forced to deal with them. You begin to understand not only what does not work, but you start to recognize the processes that do work. Along the way I was presented with opportunities to learn uses for some of the "impossible" pulps I created by mistake. And there were problems and missteps along the way...many of them. I wish I could remember the first plant, but I don't. What I do remember most vividly was the experience. I had read that Arm & Hammer Washing Soda could be used to break down plant material, but the only A & H product I was familiar with was A & H Laundry Detergent. I assumed it was the same thing. Into the pot went the water, plant material, and laundry detergent, and when the pot came to a boil, a volcano of suds foamed out and flowed into the burner. And that was the way it began. Initially I tried plants in a haphazard manner because I had no basis for judging which plant showed promise and which did not. Gradually I began to see similarities between different plants and could apply a process used successfully with one plant with a similar, untried plant. Sometimes I would work with as many as three different plants in a single day. It quickly became obvious that unless I documented my experiments, it would be impossible to remember steps and outcomes. As a result, I began journaling online as a way of recording information in words and pictures about where and when the plants were harvested, the manner of treatment, and the results.2 Few things are more exciting for a papermaker than working with a new plant and finding that it will make an excellent paper for a reasonable amount of labor, but through the years, I have found that working with invasive and nuisance species has been especially rewarding. I realize that removing a few plants to make paper will not make a dent in their numbers, but there is a real satisfaction (in some cases almost a sense of revenge) in chopping, cooking, and creating paper from invasive plants, many of which grow within sight of my back deck—privet, winter creeper, Johnsongrass, multiflora rose, English ivy, common mullein, Japanese honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle, Chinese yam. Following are some of my favorite invasive plants for papermaking. Kudzu is the only one of these that is absent from my personal landscape, though it grows in abundance just a short mile away. It is so strange. For years when I was farming, I fought and killed many of these plants. Now I have found a use for them. KUDZU Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), the king of vines and the scourge of the southern US, is readily available for gathering throughout the summer and fall. Jokingly called "the vine that ate the South," kudzu was introduced into the United States in 1876. It was planted for forage and erosion control as late as the 1950s before the true invasive nature of the plant was recognized. Kudzu dies to the ground each fall, but springs up with a vengeance the following year, growing as much as a foot a day and consuming everything in its path. Entire hillsides and everything on them, including barns and abandoned houses, can be covered within a few years. Kudzu vine with the leaves removed will make a better-than-average paper, though it requires the use of a Hollander. I have never tried the bast alone, but I suspect it would create a better sheet of paper. The bast separates easily enough from the vine without steaming, but will do so only from leaf stem to leaf stem before breaking, making stripping laborious. Kudzu paper is pale beige, featureless, and strong. Bleaching will produce a soft, cream-colored sheet. ORIENTAL BITTERSWEET Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), another vine-type invasive that is prevalent in the county where I live, begins innocently enough as a small twisting creeper, but the perennial vine grows at a prodigious rate. Its roping, twisting bulk, can reach the top of the tallest tree within a few years. The plant produces clusters of husked seeds that crack open in the fall to reveal colorful orange fruits. Wreaths made from the twisted vines are often sold at roadside stands in the fall. Unlike kudzu, which smothers a tree by covering its crown, bittersweet coexists within the branches, but the extra weight of the vine and foliage will hasten the tree's end by breaking off huge branches and sometimes simply toppling the entire tree. As a basket maker, I created random weave baskets with the flexible one-year whips, so when it came to making paper with the fiber, I was aware of the possibilities. Individual fibers in A comparison of paper made from Oriental bittersweet that are one-year-old whips (at left) and two- and three-year-old vines (at right). 6 - hand papermaking Tree-of-Heaven growing on the lot adjacent to my home. The bast and bark are most easily stripped from the limbs of Tree-of-Heaven by using a knife. the bast of the one-year-growth vines are silky white, extremely long, and very tough. I steam the whips to release the bast from the vine. Then, it is quite easy to pull off the bark from the bast with a wet rag. Breaking down the bast is more problematic. The fiber requires lengthy cooking in lye and a strong shearing action in a Hollander. During beating the fibers form islands and mats that repeatedly clog the beater. Eventually the fiber breaks down enough to circulate in the Hollander. Bittersweet paper is well worth the effort. It produces a lovely, clear white sheet that is incredibly tough. Bast from the older sections of the vines produces a white paper flecked with small bits of orange. However the older bast is difficult to remove, as is the bark, making it overly labor intensive for the return. TREE-OF-HEAVEN Tree-of-Heaven or Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) was introduced into the United States in the mid 1700s by a Pennsylvania gardener. Later during the California Gold Rush, Chinese immigrants brought the trees out west with them, and it can now be found in 42 states. Unfortunately, it can also be found flourishing in an open lot adjoining my home. Only by fighting this noxious tree for the last ten years have I been able to keep it from infiltrating our lot. It is a pretty tree, perhaps the reason it was first imported, but it produces thousands of seeds that sprout everywhere. From a papermaker's point of view, tree-of-heaven makes an unusual and quite lovely paper, but it may be somewhat impractical from the labor return aspect. Only the previous year's bast is suitable for papermaking, and though it strips easily in the spring without steaming, the layer is thin and the yield of fiber is relatively low. The paper has a cream-colored base pulp with heavier pale orange fibers floating throughout. Flecks of bark are invariably present. I prefer to think of those accidental inclusions as "points of interest." Bast from the older portions of the tree is woody and impossible to break down into anything that is usable. NODDING THISTLE In Kentucky nodding or musk thistle (Carduus nutans) grows in abundance alongside roadways and on disturbed land. Each spring thistle seeds float through the air on their fluffy parachutes. For farmers the thistles are a real problem on cropland and especially in pastures where the plants' sharp spines limit grazing by cattle. Early on I made paper from the seed-head fluff, but found it was impossible to keep the seeds out of the pulp. While including seeds creates a unique paper, the rough and bumpy texture makes it unsuitable for many projects. This past spring, I discovered that the fluff can be pulled from the seed head while the blooms are still immature. The seeds remain attached to the plant and the pink fluff is incredibly soft and separates easily, yielding a pot full with little trouble. Cooking the fluff in soda ash for two hours and processing the fiber in a blender produces a clean, smooth, pale beige sheet devoid of seeds. Plants that produce usable fibers within the seedpods will often have the same or similar fiber elsewhere in the plant. With nodding thistle, I process the tender top twelve inches of the stalk to create a pulp and paper very similar to that made from the fluff. However the yield from the stalks is much lower than from the fluff for the amount cooked. As an interesting side note, one time when I stripped the blossom fluff, I found larvae feeding on the forming seeds. These were the larvae of the thistle head weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus). Native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, the weevil was the first insect introduced into North America for the biological control of nodding thistle.
for the biological control of nodding thistle. Nodding thistles growing in disturbed ground. Fluff can be pulled from immature thistle blossoms leaving the seeds
Nodding thistles growing in disturbed ground. Fluff can be pulled from immature thistle blossoms leaving the seeds attached to the base.
attached to the base. Paper made from the thistle fluff.
Paper made from the thistle fluff. 8 • hand papermaking
8 - hand papermaking WHITE MULBERRY
WHITE MULBERRY Three varieties of mulberry grow in Kentucky—red (Morus rubra),
Three varieties of mulberry grow in Kentucky—red (Morus rubra), paper (Broussonetia papyrifera), and white (Morus alba). Of
paper (Broussonetia papyrifera), and white (Morus alba). Of the three, only the red mulberry is native. Paper mulberry was
the three, only the red mulberry is native. Paper mulberry was brought to America as an ornamental in the 1900s and is now
brought to America as an ornamental in the 1900s and is now considered invasive. White mulberry was introduced in early colonial
considered invasive. White mulberry was introduced in early colonial times for silkworm production and is now on the invasive
times for silkworm production and is now on the invasive list. White mulberry is a problem in Kentucky, not because of increasing
list. White mulberry is a problem in Kentucky, not because of increasing numbers, but because it is crossing genetically with the
numbers, but because it is crossing genetically with the native red mulberry. These hybrid trees are neither red nor white,
native red mulberry. These hybrid trees are neither red nor white, but have characteristics of both. Red mulberry has large, rough
but have characteristics of both. Red mulberry has large, rough leaves that are hairy underneath, while the white mulberry has
leaves that are hairy underneath, while the white mulberry has smaller, shiny, glabrous leaves. Both produce sweet fruits much
smaller, shiny, glabrous leaves. Both produce sweet fruits much loved by wildlife, but the white variety is insipid compared to the
loved by wildlife, but the white variety is insipid compared to the rich flavor of the red. Red mulberry is a large tree often reaching
rich flavor of the red. Red mulberry is a large tree often reaching as high as 60 feet tall, while the white seldom exceeds 30 feet and
as high as 60 feet tall, while the white seldom exceeds 30 feet and is more shrubby in nature. I have worked with all three varieties
is more shrubby in nature. I have worked with all three varieties and the crosses as well. All will produce an excellent kozo-like paper.
and the crosses as well. All will produce an excellent kozo-like paper. Cultivated mulberry is normally harvested during the winter,
Cultivated mulberry is normally harvested during the winter, but I find that harvesting wild mulberry is easiest to do in the
but I find that harvesting wild mulberry is easiest to do in the springtime when the sap is up and the bast strips cleanly without
springtime when the sap is up and the bast strips cleanly without the need for steaming. Because these trees grow wild and have
the need for steaming. Because these trees grow wild and have not benefited from trimming, the branches have multiple forking
not benefited from trimming, the branches have multiple forking limbs with knots and scars that must be removed. New-growth
limbs with knots and scars that must be removed. New-growth branches that spring from the base of the tree will usually be longer
branches that spring from the base of the tree will usually be longer and straighter with few imperfections. White mulberry bast
and straighter with few imperfections. White mulberry bast is treated just like kozo and produces the same lovely, smooth,
is treated just like kozo and produces the same lovely, smooth, white paper. And if you are lucky enough to happen on a bulldozer
white paper. And if you are lucky enough to happen on a bulldozer at work in a fencerow containing mulberry trees, you will find
at work in a fencerow containing mulberry trees, you will find that the bast from the large roots produces the same lovely paper. DOCK
that the bast from the large roots produces the same lovely paper. DOCK Over the years I have worked with something in excess of 200
Over the years I have worked with something in excess of 200 different plants or plant parts (e.g., seedpod, stem, bast, roots),
different plants or plant parts (e.g., seedpod, stem, bast, roots), but the most beautiful by far has been dock, a common and sometimes
but the most beautiful by far has been dock, a common and sometimes troublesome weed that grows throughout the United States
troublesome weed that grows throughout the United States and much of Canada. Although not technically an invasive, dock is
and much of Canada. Although not technically an invasive, dock is a perennial plant that can be found in gardens, drainage ditches,
a perennial plant that can be found in gardens, drainage ditches, and disturbed ground where it forms heavy roots from which the
and disturbed ground where it forms heavy roots from which the plant bounces back to life each spring. The stalks, if harvested before
plant bounces back to life each spring. The stalks, if harvested before they become tough, produce a lovely, rust-colored paper, but it
they become tough, produce a lovely, rust-colored paper, but it is the leaf stem that makes the most striking sheets. These stems
is the leaf stem that makes the most striking sheets. These stems can be harvested in the early spring when they are long enough to
can be harvested in the early spring when they are long enough to lift the leaves from the ground and again in late summer or early
lift the leaves from the ground and again in late summer or early fall after the seed stalks dry. I strip and discard the leaf, then cut
fall after the seed stalks dry. I strip and discard the leaf, then cut the stems into 2-inch lengths and cook them for no more than 15
the stems into 2-inch lengths and cook them for no more than 15 or 20 minutes in sodium carbonate. I place the cooked stems in
or 20 minutes in sodium carbonate. I place the cooked stems in a paint strainer bag and rinse them well with a garden hose fitted
a paint strainer bag and rinse them well with a garden hose fitted with a spray nozzle. The pressure from the water spray is all
with a spray nozzle. The pressure from the water spray is all the beating these fibers need. The sheets made from dock stems
the beating these fibers need. The sheets made from dock stems are dark, mottled with varying shades of wine, with curling white
are dark, mottled with varying shades of wine, with curling white fibers swirling throughout in a manner that looks remarkably like
fibers swirling throughout in a manner that looks remarkably like marbling. The sheets are not strong. They are best glued down
marbling. The sheets are not strong. They are best glued down as a surface decoration, such as on a book cover. The leaf stem of
as a surface decoration, such as on a book cover. The leaf stem of both curly and common dock (Rumex crispus and Rumex obtusifolius)
both curly and common dock (Rumex crispus and Rumex obtusifolius) will make the same beautiful sheets. The leaf stems from common dock plants, such as this one, make incredibly
will make the same beautiful sheets. The leaf stems from common dock plants, such as this one, make incredibly beautiful I have been asked what I do with all of the sheets I make while
beautiful I have been asked what I do with all of the sheets I make while researching various plants. For the most part, other than a few test
researching various plants. For the most part, other than a few test papers, I seldom pull many sheets. After one really bad experience
papers, I seldom pull many sheets. After one really bad experience harvesting a huge amount of plant material only to learn that it
harvesting a huge amount of plant material only to learn that it could not be broken down, now I gather just enough to see what
could not be broken down, now I gather just enough to see what the plant material will do. If it shows exceptional promise, I might
the plant material will do. If it shows exceptional promise, I might harvest a larger amount later. Early in my experimentation, I was
harvest a larger amount later. Early in my experimentation, I was far more interested in process and results than in producing artwork.
far more interested in process and results than in producing artwork. Much later I became interested in actually working with paper
Much later I became interested in actually working with paper as an art form.
as an art form. Color images for this article are available at:
Color images for this article are available at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ginpetty/Invasives#. Ed.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ginpetty/Invasives#. Ed. ___________
___________ notes
notes 1. Thomas G. Barnes and S. Wilson Francis, Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky
1. Thomas G. Barnes and S. Wilson Francis, Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2004), 13.
(Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2004), 13. 2. Though this journal is now inactive, the archives are still available. To access the
2. Though this journal is now inactive, the archives are still available. To access the archives, go to http://ginpetty.com/search.htm and use the search function to find
archives, go to http://ginpetty.com/search.htm and use the search function to find information on a specific plant or process. A note of caution: it is unedited. Early
information on a specific plant or process. A note of caution: it is unedited. Early entries may contain opinions and conclusions that were altered later as I gained
entries may contain opinions and conclusions that were altered later as I gained more knowledge.
more knowledge. Ying & Yang, vessel from hickory and mulberry bast paper, 5 inches tall x 2.5 inches
Ying & Yang, vessel from hickory and mulberry bast paper, 5 inches tall x 2.5 inches diameter.
diameter. Twined basket from mulberry paper, hosta leaf stems, and daylily
Twined basket from mulberry paper, hosta leaf stems, and daylily leaves, 3 inches tall x 2.5 inches diameter.
leaves, 3 inches tall x 2.5 inches diameter. RESOURCES
RESOURCES Invasive plants vary from area to area. A plant that is invasive here
Invasive plants vary from area to area. A plant that is invasive here may only be a nuisance plant in another area, and perhaps even a
may only be a nuisance plant in another area, and perhaps even a welcome plant somewhere else. If you are interested in working
welcome plant somewhere else. If you are interested in working with these plants, government sites offer comprehensive listings
with these plants, government sites offer comprehensive listings for specific areas. Agricultural co-ops and universities may also
for specific areas. Agricultural co-ops and universities may also be of assistance. Below are several sites that I have found useful.
be of assistance. Below are several sites that I have found useful. State Lists of Invasive/Noxious Weeds
State Lists of Invasive/Noxious Weeds http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver
http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas
Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact.htm
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact.htm Invasive and Exotic Species to North America
Invasive and Exotic Species to North America http://www.invasive.org
http://www.invasive.org

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