Isatis tinctoria L.
dyer's woad (asp-of-Jerusalem)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Robert Flogaus-Faust     (Photo ID #26287)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Isatis tinctoria
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Species Information

General:
Biennial or perennial from a stout taproot; stems erect, 0.4-1.2 m tall, simple below, branched above, glabrous, somewhat glaucous.
Leaves:
Basal leaves several, clustered, oblanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, long-stalked, toothed or wavy-margined, to 18 cm long, soft-hairy on the margins to sparsely soft-hairy with simple hairs; stem leaves lanceolate to elliptic, unstalked, with ear-like basal lobes, mostly entire, glabrous.
Flowers:
Racemes compound, numerous; flower stalks slender, conspicuously enlarged below flowers, usually reflexed; petals yellow, about 3.5 mm long, spoon-shaped.
Fruits:
Oblong to oblong-oblanceolate, 8-18 mm long, 5-7 mm wide, glabrous, blackish; fruiting stalks somewhat shorter than the silicles; seeds yellowish, ellipsoidal, about 3 mm long.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Habitat and Range

Mesic to dry roadsides and waste places in the lowland and montane zones; rare in SW and SE BC, known only from the Duncan and Nelson areas; introduced from Europe.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia