WOAD

also called Dyerswoad (Isatis tinctoria), biennial or perennial herb, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), formerly grown as a source of the blue dye indigo and now sometimes cultivated for its clusters of small, four-petalled yellow flowers. It is a summer-flowering native of Eurasia, now naturalized in southeastern North America. Woad reaches 90 centimetres (3 feet) and produces clusters of dangling, winged, oval, single-seeded fruits. The hairy stem leaves have arrow-shaped bases; the long basal leaves are downy and lance shaped. The ground and dried leaves, when wetted and fermented, produce indigo.