tussah
Silk fabric woven from silk made by wild, un
cultivated silkworms. Tussah is naturally tan in color, cannot be bleached, and has a rougher
texture than
cultivated silk. Wild silkworms eat leaves other than mulberry leaves which
cultivated silkworms eat exclusively. The difference in diet accounts for the different
fiber and fabric characteristics. Tussah is also used to describe fabrics designed to imitate this kind of silk. See
wild silk.