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 (L.) Vent.—white wild indigo var. alba (L.) Vent. var. macrophylla (Larisey) Isely Baptisia albescens Small
Baptisia arachnifera W.H. Duncan—cobwebby wild indigo, hairy rattleweed (limited to two counties in southeastern Georgia) Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br.—blue false indigo, blue wild indigo var. australis (L.) R. Br. var. minor (Lehm.) Fernald Baptisia bicolor Greenm. & Larisey Baptisia bracteata Elliott—longbract wild indigo, Plains wild indigo var. bracteata Elliott var. glabrescens (Larisey) Isely var. laevicaulis (Canby) Isely var. leucophaea (Nutt.) Kartesz & Gandhi
Baptisia calycosa Canby—Florida wild indigo var. calycosa Canby var. villosa Canby Baptisia cinerea (Raf.) Fernald & B.G. Schub.—grayhairy wild indigo
Baptisia deamii Larisey
Baptisia fragilis Larisey
Baptisia fulva Larisey
Baptisia intercalata Larisey Baptisia intermedia Larisey
Baptisia lanceolata (Walter) Elliott—gopherweed (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina) var. lanceolata (Walter) Elliott var. tomentosa (Larisey) Isely Baptisia lecontei Torr. & A. Gray—pineland wild indigo
Baptisia macilenta Small ex Larisey Baptisia megacarpa Torr. & A. Gray—Apalachicola wild indigo Baptisia microphylla Nutt.
Baptisia nuttalliana Small—Nuttall's wild indigo
Baptisia perfoliata (L.) R. Br.—catbells Baptisia pinetorum Larisey
Baptisia serenae M.A. Curtis Baptisia simplicifolia Croom—scareweed Baptisia sphaerocarpa Nutt.—yellow wild indigo, green wild indigo, round wild indigo Baptisia stricta Larisey Baptisia sulphurea Engelm.
Baptisia tinctoria (L.) Vent.—rattleweed, wild indigo, horseflyweed, indigo-broom, yellow broom
Species names with uncertain taxonomic status The status of the following species is unresolved: Baptisia auriculata Sweet Baptisia lupinoides Burb. Baptisia retusa Raf.
Hybrids The following hybrids have been described: Baptisia x bicolor Baptisia × bushii Small Baptisia x deamii Baptisia x microphylla Baptisia x serenae Baptisia x sulphurae Baptisia ×variicolor Kosnik, et al. (Baptisia australis × Baptisia sphaerocarpa)
See also Indigofera—true indigo
References