Isatis tinctoria, with Woad as the common name, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is commonly called dyer's woad, and sometimes incorrectly listed as
Isatis indigotica. It is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem.
Woad is native to the steppe and desert zones of the Caucasus, Central Asia to eastern Siberia and Western Asia (Hegi), but is now found in southeastern and some parts of Central Europe as well. Long important as a source of blue dye, it has been cultivated throughout Europe, especially in Western and southern Europe, since ancient times.
Two novel indole C-glycosides, which were the first reported alkaloids C-glycosides from Isatisindigotica, together with five known alkaloids were isolated. The novel alkaloids were elucidated to be indole-3-acetonitrile-4-methoxy-2-C-β-D-glucopyranoside and N-methoxy-indole-3-acetonitrile-2-C-β-D-glucopyranoside on the basis of spectroscopic analysis.