224 



CllUCIFERjE. LXXVII. ISATIS. 



Iberia about Tiflis. Tratt. arch. 2. p. 41. t. 70. Sameraria 

 Armena, Desv. jour. bot. 3. p. 161. t. 25. f. 6. Buxb. cent. 1. 

 p. 3. t. 4. Auricles of leaves blunt. 



Armenian Woad. Fl. Ju.Jul. Clt. 1825. PI. 1 to lfoot. 



3 I. LATISI'LIQUA (Stev. mem. soc. nat. mosc. 1812. vol. 3. 

 p. 263.) pods elliptical, blunt, sessile, broadly marginate ; stigma 

 sessile ; auricles of leaves blunt. $ . H. Native of Cappa- 

 docia, and in the Alps about Chinalug in Eastern Caucasus. 



1. Cappadocica, Desv. journ. bot. 1814. p. 174. Pods velvety, 

 from short down. 



Var. fl,glabra (Stev. ind. D. C. syst.2. p. 566.) pods smooth, 

 or nearly so. 



Broad-podded Woad. Fl. Ju. Jul. Clt. 1821. PI. 1 to 1 J ft. 



4 I. LEIOCA'RPA (D. C. syst. 2. p. 567.) pods oval-oblong, 

 sessile, somewhat truncate at the apex, with a sessile stigma ; 

 auricles of leaves acute. Q? H. Native on Mount Lebanon. 

 Flowers a little larger than those of /. tinctoria. 



Smooth-podded Woad. Fl. May, July. PI. 1 foot. 



5 I. LUSITA'NICA (Brot. fl. lus. 1. p. 560. but not of others) 

 pods obovate, wedge-shaped at the base, very blunt and emar- 

 ginate at the apex, broadly marginate ; stem and leaves smooth. 

 O- H. Native of Portugal, among rocks near Miranda do 

 Doiro. I. glauca, Willd. herb, from Stev. obs. ind. 



Portugal Woad. Fl. May, Jul. Clt. 1739. PI. H foot. 



SECT. II. GLA'STUM (from glas, the Celtic word for blue ; 

 because of the plants yielding a blue dye like indigo). D. C. 

 syst. 2. p. 568. prod. 1. p. 210. Silicle oval-oblong, or almost 

 linear, with corky margins, scarcely dehiscent. 



6 I. ALPI V NA (All. ped. no. 944. t. 86. f. 2.) pods oval-oblong, 

 blunt at both ends, quite smooth, with somewhat leafy-winged 

 margins, almost 3-times as long as broad. Tf.1 $ . H. Native 

 of Piedmont on Mount Vesulo, and in the Apennines. A very 

 distinct species, intermediate between the two sections. 



Alpine Woad. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1800. PI. to 1 foot. 



7 I. PH/E V COX (Kit. from Tratt. arch. 2. p. 40. t. C8.) pods 

 elliptical, blunt at botli ends, with a coriaceous, winged margin, 

 very smooth, almost 3-times as long as broad. $ . H. Native 

 of Hungary and about Astrakan. I. Dalmatica, Mill. diet. no. 



2. ? Habit of plant very like /. tinctoria, but easily distinguished 

 from it by the pods being scarcely narrower at the base, but truly 

 elliptical. 



Early-fiovfermg Woad. Fl, Apr. May. Clt. 1820. PI. H ft. 



8 I. LITTORA'LIS (D. C. syst. 2. p. 568.) pods oblong-cuneated, 

 very blunt, truncately-emarginate at the apex, very smooth, 

 narrowed at the base, 3-times as long as broad ; cells exserted on 

 both sides, and with the furrow distinct from the wing. $ . H. 

 Native of Tauria on the sea-shore about Sudak. I. littoralis, a, 

 Stev. in litt. Deless. icon. sel. 2. t. 78. Flowers like those of 

 /. tinclbria. 



Sea-shore Woad. Fl. May, Jul. Clt. 1816. PL 1 to 2 feet. 



9 I. HEBECA'RPA (D. C. syst. 2. p. 569.) pods oblong-cuneated, 

 very blunt, velvety, somewhat narrower at the base, hardly twice 

 as long as broad ; cells destitute of the lateral furrow. $ . H. 

 Native of Tauria on the sea-shore, about Sudak. Deless. icon, 

 sel. 2. t. 79. I. littoralis, var. ft, Stev. in litt. 



Blunt-podded Woad. Fl. May, June. Clt. 1627. PI. Ij ft. 



10 I. TINCTO'RIA (Lin. spec. 936.) pods cuneated, acuminated 

 at the base, somewhat spatulate at the end, very blunt, smooth, 

 3-times as long as broad ; leaves biauric.ulate at the base. 

 O- H. Native of south and middle Europe in dry stony 

 places from Spain and Sicily to the shores of the Baltic sea, also, 

 but probably introduced, in the Canary Islands and Eastern Asia, 

 in cultivated land. In England in cultivated fields and about 

 their borders, but rare. At New Barnes near Ely, and near 

 Durham. Smith, engl. bot. t. 97. Mart. fl. rust. t. 41. Schkiihr. 



handb. 2. no. 1921. t. 188. Tratt. arch. 2. p. 39. t. 67. I. he- 

 terocarpa, Andrz ? 



Var. ft, sativa (D. C. syst. 2. p. 570.) leaves smooth, broad. 

 I. sativa, Fusch. hist. 331. icon. Dod. pempt. 79. f. 2. Dalech. 

 lugd. 499. f. 2. This is the variety which is cultivated for use. 



far. y, hirsuta (D. C. 1. c.) leaves narrow, hairy. I. alpina, 

 Vill. dauph. 3. p. 308, exclusive of the synonyms. Native of 

 exposed rocky situations. 



far. S, microcdrpa (D. C. 1. c.) leaves smooth, narrow ; pods 

 smaller. I. Dalmatica, Mill. diet. no. 2. ? Native on Mount 

 Lebanon. 



The common dyers' woad was formerly called g/dstum, 

 from the Celtic glas, blue, whence Glastonbury derived its 

 name. The ancient Britons are reported to have painted their 

 bodies with the blue colour obtained from this plant, whence 

 they received their appellation Britho, being the Celtic word for 

 to paint, hence Britons. The Picts were so named by the 

 Romans for the same reason. On account of the brightness of its 

 manufactured colours, the Celts called it gmed (guesde in 

 French to this day) whence the Anglo Saxons obtained their 

 name of rvaad or mad, and the English the word noad. It is in 

 occasional cultivation for its leaves, from which a dye, as a sub- 

 stitute for indigo, is obtained. The seeds are sown on well-pre- 

 pared land in good heart. Fresh broken old pasture-land is 

 preferred, and the great object is to have large leaves ; for 

 which purpose, as Miller observes, the culture given by the best 

 gardeners to spinach should be imitated, that of sowing on a 

 very rich well pulverised soil, thinning the plants so as they may 

 not touch each other, keeping them perfectly clear of weeds, and 

 frequently stirring the soil between the plants. The culture 

 applied to the turnip in Northumberland would succeed well 

 with woad. The seeds are sown in July, and the plants, when 

 they come up, weeded and thinned ; next July, or earlier, the 

 first crop of leaves may be gathered, and two or three others will 

 be obtained during the season. The end of the second year 

 the plants may be ploughed down, as the third year they will run 

 to seed, and yield but small leaves. The leaves are pressed, 

 and the juice treated as in making indigo, but svich is the cheap- 

 ness of the latter article, that no British farmer can afford to 

 raise any sort of substitute. 



" The culture of woad, though not general, has been practised 

 in Flanders. It was an object with the French government to 

 spread the cultivation of it, and a considerable quantity of the 

 seed was sent gratis into the country for that purpose. Woad 

 thrives best on sandy and gravelly soils, which must be well pul- 

 verised, manured, and formed into beds as in the case of madder 

 culture. It is sown in March or April in rows, or broad-cast, 

 and harrowed or covered with a rake. All weeds are cleared, 

 away and the plants thinned, if a careful culture is followed. 

 The leaves are the part of the plant used by the indigo manu- 

 facturer. They should be gathered singly, like those of spinach, 

 as soon as they begin to show signs of maturity, and the mature 

 leaves taken ofF from time to time as they grow. This operation 

 goes on from June to September in the first year, and from June 

 to August in the second ; when the plant, being a biennial, shoots 

 into flower-stems. The leaves are fermented, and the dye pre- 

 cipitated from the liquor and dried, &c. in a manner analogous 

 to what is practised in India with indigo, but with great improve- 

 ments, made at the instigation of the French government, which 

 in 1810 called forth the process described in a French work, and 

 translated in the Appendix to RadclifF's Report. At present it 

 is to be considered more as matter of curious historical infor- 

 mation or of local adoption than of general utility ; because 

 no mode of cultivating or preparing mood could bring it into 

 competition, either in the European or American market with in- 

 digo." (Loud. enc. agr. p. 81.) 



