North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Baptisia australis

Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br.

tall blue wild indigo, blue wild indigo

Baptisia australis (Tall Blue Wild Indigo)

Image ID: 8800
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: BAAU
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Baptisia australis
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-10-16

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: BAPTI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Baptisia
GENUS AUTHORITY: Vent.
GENUS COMMON: Wild indigo
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, perennial herbs, of temperate e. and c. North America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Isely (1981)=Y; Larisey (1940a)=Z; Mendenhall (1994a, 1994b)=X; Turner (2006)=Q; Isely (1998)=I; Woods & Diamond (2014).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: FABACE
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Fabaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1836 or LEGUMINOSAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Legume Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 730 genera and 20,000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, cosmopolitan.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Isely (1990)=SE (throughout the family treatment); Isely (1998)=I; Lewis et al. (2005); Wojciechowski, Lavin, & Sanderson (2004); Wilbur (1963a); Robertson & Lee (1976).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, bushy perennial of glades, barrens and open woodlands over limestone or other calcareous rocks, and over diabase or other mafic rocks.
STEMS: Stems several (and more with age) from a woody base, branches angled upward, smooth and with a white-waxy coating.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, the petioles with conspicuous stipules at the base; divided into 3 bluish-green, oval leaflets, each 1/2-3 in. long and smooth.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in erect, terminal racemes (to 12 in. long) extending well above foliage; blue-violet, 1 in. long, bilaterally symmetric with typical pea-flower shape.
FRUITS: Fruit an inflated seed pod with pointed tip; turns charcoal-black when ripe.
COMMENTS: Two varieties of this species are sometimes recognized: var. aberrans, with leaflets mostly oriented in a vertical plane (as opposed to horizontal) and racemes generally shorter and more densely flowered than in var. australis. Habitat described here is for var. aberrans; var. australis is more typically found on riverbank scour areas and gravel bars, as well as disturbed areas, where it persists from cultivation. Early Americans used B. australis as an inferior dye substitute for true indigo.
HEIGHT: 2-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Trifoliate
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Apr-May

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Blue, purple

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
						x		x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Disturbed, Outcrops and glades, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: This fine southeastern native perennial looks attractive throughout the growing season. Its spikes of blue pea-like flowers are beautiful. Each plant grows into a bushy mound of attractive bluish-green foliage. Tall Blue Wild Indigo is tough and easy to grow. Mature plants have a shrub-like appearance. Once established, it is a drought-tolerant, long-lived perennial. The root of this plant was used by Native Americans to treat skin infections. 1992 N.C. Wildflower of the Year

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 3
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
1048	HORT	2006-08-01	Bryan	View
1090	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View
1093	HORT	2006-08-01	Bryan	View
1713	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View
1733	HORT	2005-01-01	Keith	View
1805	HORT	1991-01-01		View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
2461	1986-2302			View
3483	1991-0132			View
6502	1996-0127			View
6506	1996-0131			View
7966	2003-0018	2003-08-03		View
8170	2004-0181	2006-05-19		View
8622	2006-0204	2006-08-22		View
9133	2006-0343	2006-10-27	1805	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
4174	2461	142	NCBG staff	1967-01-01	View
4175	2461	27	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
5737	3483	94	NCBG staff	1987-01-01	View
9193	6502	135	NCBG staff	2000-05-01	View
9194	6502	142	NCBG staff	2000-05-01	View
9198	6506	81	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11209	7966	93	NCBG staff	2003-04-23	View
11426	8170	81	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
11913	9133	135	NCBG staff	1991-01-01	View
11914	9133	139	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12279	8622	32	Mixon	2012-03-28	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: BAAU
USDA Common Name: Blue Wild Indigo
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (ON)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				FACU	UPL		FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
COMMON NAME:
SYNONYMY:
PHENOLOGY:
HABITAT:
COMMENTS:
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Fabaceae Lindley 1836 or LEGUMINOSAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Legume Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 730 genera and 20,000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, cosmopolitan.
REFERENCE: Isely (1990)=SE (throughout the family treatment); Isely (1998)=I; Lewis et al. (2005); Wojciechowski, Lavin, & Sanderson (2004); Wilbur (1963a); Robertson & Lee (1976).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Baptisia Vent. (Wild indigo)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 20 species, perennial herbs, of temperate e. and c. North America.
REFERENCE: Isely (1981)=Y; Larisey (1940a)=Z; Mendenhall (1994a, 1994b)=X; Turner (2006)=Q; Isely (1998)=I; Woods & Diamond (2014).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Baptisia australis in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Baptisia australis in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Baptisia australis in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Baptisia australis in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Baptisia australis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Baptisia australis

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8800 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 8800 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 28599 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)