Baptisia tinctoria

Species of flowering plant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baptisia tinctoria

Baptisia tinctoria (common names include yellow false indigo, wild indigo,[1] wild-indigo[2] and horseflyweed[3]) is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to eastern North America.

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...
Baptisia tinctoria
Thumb
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Baptisia
Species:
B. tinctoria
Binomial name
Baptisia tinctoria
(L.) R.Br. ex Ait.f.
Close

Distribution and habitat

Baptisia tinctoria is found throughout the eastern United States, west to Minnesota, and south to Florida.[4] As it is rare in some parts of its range, it is protected by some state authorities: in Kentucky it is threatened; in Maine it is considered endangered.[5] It prefers dry meadow and open woodland environments.[6]

Thumb
Line drawing

Description

The multiple bushy stems of Baptisia tinctoria reach 2 to 3 feet tall. The leaves are silver-green; each is divided into three leaflets about ½ inch long. The flowers are yellow and grow in spikes 1½ to 3 inches long.[7]

The leaves are eaten by some lepidopteran caterpillars, for example the Io moth (Automeris io).

On Martha's Vineyard, the species is a tumbleweed: it grows in a globular form, breaks off at the root in the autumn, and tumbles about.[1]

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.