Isatis tinctoria L. (SW-As.) – A rare alien. Formerly cultivated for its leaves (dye). Apparently first collected as an escape on dry slopes and fields around Samart, at least between 1855 and 1866. Furthermore more or less naturalised on the banks of river Meuse near Visé between 1867 and 1897. Also repeatedly reported from scattered other locations, mainly in Wallonia (Arlon, Olloy, etc.). In Brussel persisting for several years after infrastructural works near the former Botanic Garden (1945-1952). In Flanders much more rare and apparently always ephemeral. There were but very few records after 1950: it was seen, for instance, on a grain dump in Andrimont in 1955 and on waste land near Brussel (Heyzel) in 1960. More recently it was also seen on a canal bank in Turnhout in 1990 (a single specimen). However, since about 2008 steadily increasing, doubtlessly and at least in part as a result of the species being more frequently introduced in wild flower seed mixtures (newly sown grasslands, canal banks, etc.). An overview of recent observations is available here: https://waarnemingen.be/soort/view/6904. At least in some localities Isatis tinctoria seems to persist well, for instance in Lompret.
Isatis tinctoria usually grows in dry and sunny, often stony habitats: river banks, along railway tracks, on waste land or rocky slopes. Although it used to be an agricultural weed once, in Belgium it is only rarely recorded as a weed of arable land.
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Selected literature:
Kobel-Lamparski A. & Wilmanns O. (2007) Über den Färberwaid, eine alte und zugleich neue Nutzpflanze : eine Studie in der Rebflur des Kaiserstuhls. Mitteilungen des Badischen Landesvereins für Naturkunde und Naturschutz Freiburg. Neue Folge 20: 149-158.
Moazzeni H. & Zarre S. (2006) On the Circumscription of Isatis tinctoria L. (Brassicaceae) in Iran. Turk. J. Bot. 30: 455-458. [available online at: http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/issues/bot-06-30-6/bot-30-6-5-0512...
Nieschalk A. & Nieschalk C. (1977) Der Farber-Waid (Isatis tinctoria L.) im Edertal. Hess. Flor. Briefe 26(4): 62-65.
Sajedi S., Sharifnia F. & Sonboli A. (2004) Verification of Isatis tinctoria in Iran. Rostaniha 5: 51-52.
Sipkes C. (1962) De Wede (Isatis tinctoria). Natura (Amsterdam) 59: 3-5.
Wilmanns O. & Kobel-Lamparski A. (2008) Der Färberwaid (Isatis tinctoria L.): ein Beitrag zur Vegetationsökologie und Biozönologie. In: Evers C. (ed.), Dynamik der synanthropen Vegetation : Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Dietmar Brandes. Braunschweiger geobotanische Arbeiten 9: 459-479. [available online at: http://digisrv-1.biblio.etc.tu-bs.de:8080/docportal/servlets/MCRFileNode...