Woad

Isatis tinctoria

HRB-0316Entry “WOAD” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernEFSA: tryptanthrinEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Historical correspondence. Ruled by Saturn, by Culpeper. A traditional astrological assignment, kept apart from the modern evidence; it is not a finding.

Culpeper’s claims about it: 3, under 3 headings

  1. Anthony’s FireCLM-000099
    It cools inflammations, quenches St. Anthony’s fire, and stays defluxion of the blood to any part of the body.
    QUO-000079Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. InflammationsCLM-000970
    It cools inflammations, quenches St. Anthony’s fire, and stays defluxion of the blood to any part of the body.
    QUO-000079Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. UlcersCLM-002022
    The ointment is excellently good in such ulcers as abound with moisture, and takes away the corroding and fretting humours:
    QUO-001275Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.