Baptisia tinctoria

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

B. tinctoria is found throughout the eastern United States, west to Minnesota, and south to Florida. 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. It prefers dry meadow and open woodland environments.

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 1/2 inch long. The flowers are yellow and grow in spikes 1 1/2 to 3 inches long.

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

There are two known varieties of Baptisia tinctoria: B. a. var. abberns and B. a. var. australis.

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.

Translation

The phrase "Baptisia tinctoria" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Spanish.