Baptisia

Baptisia (wild indigo, false indigo) is a genus in the legume family, Fabaceae. They are flowering herbaceous perennial plants with pea-like flowers, followed by pods, which are sometimes inflated. They are native to woodland and grassland in eastern and southern North America. The species most commonly found in cultivation is B. australis.

Baptisia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the jaguar flower moth, Schinia jaguarina.

Species

Baptisia comprises the following species:

• Baptisia alba <small>(L.) Vent.</small>—white wild indigo
• var. alba <small>(L.) Vent.</small>
• var. macrophylla <small>(Larisey) Isely</small>
• Baptisia albescens <small>Small</small>

• Baptisia arachnifera <small>W.H. Duncan</small>—cobwebby wild indigo, hairy rattleweed (limited to two counties in southeastern Georgia)
• Baptisia australis <small>(L.) R. Br.</small>—blue false indigo, blue wild indigo
• var. australis <small>(L.) R. Br.</small>
• var. minor <small>(Lehm.) Fernald</small>
• Baptisia bicolor <small>Greenm. & Larisey</small>
• Baptisia bracteata <small>Elliott</small>—longbract wild indigo, Plains wild indigo
• var. bracteata <small>Elliott</small>
• var. glabrescens <small>(Larisey) Isely</small>
• var. laevicaulis <small>(Canby) Isely</small>
• var. leucophaea <small>(Nutt.) Kartesz & Gandhi</small>

• Baptisia calycosa <small>Canby</small>—Florida wild indigo
• var. calycosa <small>Canby</small>
• var. villosa <small>Canby</small>
• Baptisia cinerea <small>(Raf.) Fernald & B.G. Schub.</small>—grayhairy wild indigo

• Baptisia deamii <small>Larisey</small>

• Baptisia fragilis <small>Larisey</small>

• Baptisia fulva <small>Larisey</small>

• Baptisia intercalata <small>Larisey</small>
• Baptisia intermedia <small>Larisey</small>

• Baptisia lanceolata <small>(Walter) Elliott</small>—gopherweed (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina)
• var. lanceolata <small>(Walter) Elliott</small>
• var. tomentosa <small>(Larisey) Isely</small>
• Baptisia lecontei <small>Torr. & A. Gray</small>—pineland wild indigo

• Baptisia macilenta <small>Small ex Larisey</small>
• Baptisia megacarpa <small>Torr. & A. Gray</small>—Apalachicola wild indigo
• Baptisia microphylla <small>Nutt.</small>

• Baptisia nuttalliana <small>Small</small>—Nuttall's wild indigo

• Baptisia perfoliata <small>(L.) R. Br.</small>—catbells
• Baptisia pinetorum <small>Larisey</small>

• Baptisia serenae <small>M.A. Curtis</small>
• Baptisia simplicifolia <small>Croom</small>—scareweed
• Baptisia sphaerocarpa <small>Nutt.</small>—yellow wild indigo, green wild indigo, round wild indigo
• Baptisia stricta <small>Larisey</small>
• Baptisia sulphurea <small>Engelm.</small>

• Baptisia tinctoria <small>(L.) Vent.</small>—rattleweed, wild indigo, horseflyweed, indigo-broom, yellow broom

Species names with uncertain taxonomic status

The status of the following species is unresolved:

• Baptisia auriculata <small>Sweet</small>
• Baptisia lupinoides <small>Burb.</small>
• Baptisia retusa <small>Raf.</small>

Hybrids

The following hybrids have been described:

• Baptisia x bicolor
• Baptisia × bushii <small>Small</small>
• Baptisia x deamii
• Baptisia x microphylla
• Baptisia x serenae
• Baptisia x sulphurae
• Baptisia ×variicolor <small>Kosnik, et al.</small> (Baptisia australis × Baptisia sphaerocarpa)

See also

• Indigofera—true indigo

References