woad

woad, (Isatis tinctoria), biennial or perennial herb in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), formerly grown as a source of the blue dye indigo. A summer-flowering plant native to Eurasia, woad is sometimes cultivated for its attractive flowers and has naturalized in parts of North America, where it is considered a noxious weed. The ground and its dried leaves, when wetted and fermented, produce the blue crystalline compound indigotin; synthetic dye has largely replaced woad and natural indigo (e.g., various species of the genus Indigofera) as a dyestuff.

Woad reaches about 90 cm (3 feet) in height and has a long taproot. The hairy stem leaves have arrow-shaped bases, and the long basal leaves are downy and lance shaped. The plant bears small four-petaled yellow flowers and produces clusters of dangling winged single-seeded fruits.