''Isatis'' is a genus of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the family
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...
, native to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
region east to
central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from the ancient Greek word for the plant, ἰσάτις. The genus includes
woad
''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, dyer's-weed, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant.
Its genus name, ''Isati ...
(''Isatis tinctoria''). Due to their extremely variable morphology, the Asian species in particular are difficult to determine; the only reliable diagnostic feature is the ripe fruit. They are (usually)
biennial or perennial
herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition o ...
s, often bluish and hairless or downy hairy with the upright stem branched.
Description
They are annual, biennial or perennial, branched herbs, usually
glabrous
Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...
and
glaucous
''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...
except
silique. Basal leaves generally elliptic-oblong,
sessile; sessile caulinary, rounded to oval-oblong.
The
hermaphrodite
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic.
The individuals of many ...
flowers are fourfold double
perianth
The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...
. The four
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106
Etymology
The term ''sepalum'' ...
s are ascending to upright. The four yellow to
off-white or
lilac-white petals are at least as long as the sepals. They have six
stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s with very small, egg-shaped or elongated-round anthers. There are
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
glands.
Racemose is branched or paniculated, ebracted, inflorescence, often reaching lax and elongated in the fruit.
The fruit is a generally linear silique, oblong-cuneate to suborbicular, indehiscent, flattened laterally, unilocular, little to conspicuously winged, glabrous or with tiny hairs.
[Flora of North America Editorial Committee, e. 2010. Magnoliophyta: Salicaceae to Brassicaceae. Fl. N. Amer. 7: i – xxii, 1–797.]
Species
Currently accepted species include:
*''
Isatis afghanica''
Hadac & Chrtek
*''
Isatis amani''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis apennina''
Ten. ex Grande
*''
Isatis apscheronica''
N.Busch
*''
Isatis aptera''
(Boiss. & Heldr.) Al-Shehbaz, Moazzeni & Mumm.
*''
Isatis arenaria''
Azn.
*''
Isatis armena''
L.
*''
Isatis arnoldiana''
N.Busch
*''
Isatis aucheri''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis biscutellifolia''
Boiss. & Buhse
*''
Isatis bitlisica''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis boissieriana''
Rchb.f.
*''
Isatis brachycarpa''
C.A.Mey.
*''
Isatis brevipes''
(Bunge) Jafri
*''
Isatis bullata''
Aitch. & Hemsl.
*''
Isatis bungeana''
Seidlitz
*''
Isatis buschiana''
Schischk.
*''
Isatis callifera''
Boiss. & Balansa
*''
Isatis campylocarpa''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis canaliculata''
(Vassilcz.) V.V.Botschantz.
*''
Isatis candolleana''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis cappadocica''
Desv.
*''
Isatis cardiocarpa''
(Trautv.) Al-Shehbaz, Moazzeni & Mumm.
*''
Isatis caucasica''
N.Busch
*''
Isatis cochlearis''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis constricta''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis costata''
C.A.Mey.
*''
Isatis davisiana''
H.Misirdali ex P.H.Davis, R.R.Mill & Kit Tan
*''
Isatis demiriziana''
H.Misirdali ex P.H.Davis, R.R.Mill & Kit Tan
*''
Isatis densiflora''
(Bunge ex Boiss.) D.A.German
*''
Isatis deserti''
(N.Busch) V.V.Botschantz.
*''
Isatis djurjaedae''
Coss. & Durieu
*''
Isatis elegans''
(Boiss.) Hadac & Chrtek
*''
Isatis emarginata''
Kar. & Kir.
*''
Isatis erzurumica''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis floribunda''
Boiss. ex Bornm.
*''
Isatis frigida''
Boiss. & Kotschy
*''
Isatis frutescens''
Kar. & Kir.
*''
Isatis gaubae''
Bornm.
*''
Isatis glastifolia''
(Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Al-Shehbaz, Moazzeni & Mumm.
*''
Isatis glauca''
Aucher ex Boiss.
*''
Isatis grammotis''
Kit Tan
*''
Isatis gymnocarpa''
(Fisch. ex DC.) Al-Shehbaz, Moazzeni & Mumm.
*''
Isatis harsukhii''
O.E.Schulz
*''
Isatis hirtocalyx''
Franch.
*''
Isatis huber-morathii''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis iberica''
Steven
*''
Isatis jacutensis''
(N.Busch) N.Busch
*''
Isatis karjaginii''
Schischk.
*''
Isatis kotschyana''
Boiss. & Hohen.
*''
Isatis kozlovskyi''
Grossh.
*''
Isatis laevigata''
Trautv.
*''
Isatis latisiliqua''
Steven
*''
Isatis leuconeura''
Boiss. & Buhse
*''
Isatis littoralis''
Steven
*''
Isatis lockmanniana''
Kotschy ex Boiss.
*''
Isatis lusitanica''
L.
*''
Isatis mardinensis''
P.H.Davis & H.Misirdali
*''
Isatis maxima''
Pavlov
*''
Isatis microcarpa''
J.Gay ex Boiss.
*''
Isatis minima''
Bunge
*''
Isatis multicaulis''
(Kar. & Kir.) Jafri
*''
Isatis oblongata''
DC.
*''
Isatis odontogera''
(Bordz.) D.A.German
*''
Isatis ornithorhynchus''
N.Busch
*''
Isatis pachycarpa''
Rech.f., Aellen & Esfand.
*''
Isatis pinnatiloba''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis platyloba''
Link ex Steud.
*''
Isatis praecox''
Kit. ex Tratt.
*''
Isatis raimondoi''
Di Grist., Scafidi & Domina
*''
Isatis raphanifolia''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis rugulosa''
Bunge ex Boiss.
*''
Isatis sabulosa''
Steven ex Ledeb.
*''
Isatis sevangensis''
N.Busch
*''
Isatis sivasica''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis spatella''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis spectabilis''
P.H.Davis
*''
Isatis steveniana''
Trautv.
*''
Isatis stocksii''
Boiss.
*''
Isatis subdidyma
''Isatis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from the ancient Greek word for the plant, ἰσάτις. The genus includes woad (''Is ...
''
(N.Busch) V.E.Avet.
*''
Isatis takhtajanii''
Avet.
*''
Isatis tinctoria''
L.
*''
Isatis tomentella''
Boiss. & Balansa
*''
Isatis trachycarpa''
Trautv.
*''
Isatis turcomanica''
Korsh.
*''
Isatis undulata''
Aucher ex Boiss.
*''
Isatis violascens''
Bunge
*''
Isatis zarrei''
Al-Shehbaz, Moazzeni & Mumm.
References
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae genera
{{Brassicales-stub