Isatis

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Isatis (Í-sa-tis) is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia. The genus includes woad (Isatis tinctoria).

Read about Isatis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Isatis (ancient name, of obscure meaning). Cruciferae. 'Herbs, for ornament and for dyeing. Annual, biennial, perennial; erect, branching, glabrous or pubescent or rarely tomentose: lvs. undivided, the upper ones clasping and auricled: fls. small, yellow, many in lax racemes, without bracts; sepals and petals 4: pod large and mostly flat, pendulous, linear to oblong or obovate or even nearly circular, indehiscent, strong-ribbed on either side, 1-seeded, the stigma sessile; radicle mostly incumbent.—Species about 50, Eu., N. Afr.. Asia. This genus includes the dyer's woad, I. tinctoria formerly cultivated for a blue dye but no longer advertised. Caesar relates that the ancient Britons used the wood for staining their bodies, and the word Britain itself comes from an old Celtic word meaning painted. Before indigo became common in Europe, the dyer's woad produced the chief blue coloring matter for woolen cloth. The introduction of indigo in the seventeenth century destroyed this important industry, not without opposition. Dioscorides and Pliny mention both the dyer's woad and indigo. I. boissieridna Reichb. Annual, 12 in.: basal lvs. cuncate- oblong, toothed; upper lvs. entire, oblong: fls. yellow: pod pubescent, various. Turkestan. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Isatis is the ancient name of Yazd , a city in Iran.

Species

About 30 species, including:
Isatis boissieriana
Isatis glauca
Isatis tinctoria

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Isatis. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Isatis QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)