"Giaud" and in Italian "guado", and in Latin "Isatis tinctoria", is a small plant about 40 to 120cms high that has two different types of leaf: the root-leaves are ovate and piccolate and those on the stem oblong and clinging to the stem. It is not a volunteer and was once grown widely over Chierese territory, the leaves being used to obtain a stable turquoise dye, known as "giaud" in our dialect. It was sown in September, in rows, just like maize, in well tended, fertilised land. In autumn it was weeded once and then weeded a second time in the spring. Its product was the leaf that fell off the stem gradually as it started to turn yellow. When the leaves dried up they were crushed in a mortar until they formed a smooth paste, at which point they were left to ferment, in piles, for several days. Following that they were shaped into little balls, put out to dry and were then ready for use. This plant that we called "Isatis Tinctoria", from the binomial of Linneo, belongs to the "Crucifere" family, and had already been mentioned by Pliny under the name "glastrum", from which the Tuscan "Glastro" or "glasto" comes. The Chierese term, if we can so call it, derives from Medieval Low Latin "gualdum"; from Low Germanic "Waida", transformed into "Waide" in Old German and "Waid" in Modern German. In Old French the plant was called "Guaide" and in Modern French "Guède". In English it is "Woad".