Blue wild indigo

Baptisia australis

''Baptisia australis'', commonly known as blue wild indigo or blue false indigo, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae . It is native to much of central and eastern North America and is particularly common in the Midwest, but it has also been introduced well beyond its natural range.
Blue Wild Indigo - Baptisia australia Habitat: Garden Baptisia,Baptisia australis,Blue wild indigo,Geotagged,Spring,United States

Appearance

''B. australis'' is an herbaceous perennial that reproduces both sexually and asexually by means of its spreading rhizomes. The plant is erect and emerges from the rhizomatic network.

The roots themselves are branched and deep, which helps the plant withstand periods of drought. When dug up they are woody and black in colour and show tubercles, wart-like projections found on the roots. The plant branches extensively about halfway up. The stems are stour and glabrous, or hairless. Broken stems secrete a sap that turns dark blue on contact with the air.

The plant may attain a height of 1 to 1.5 metres, and a width of 0.6 to 1 metre. The grey-green trifoliate leaves are arranged alternately, and are further divided into clover-like leaflets that are obovate in shape, or wider towards the apex.

Flower spikes appear in early summer. Emerging at the pinnacle are short, upright terminal racemes with pea-like flowers that vary in colour from light blue to deep violet.

The flowers, which bloom from spring to summer depending on the region, are bisexual and are roughly 2.5 cm long.

The fruit is a bluish black inflated and hardened pod that ranges from 2.5 to 7.5 cm in length by 1.25 to 2.5 cm. They are oblong in shape and are sharply tipped at the apex. At maturity they will contain many loose seeds within.

The seeds are yellowish brown, kidney shaped and about 2 mm in size.The leaves emerge about one month before flowering and are shed approximately one month after the pods form. Once the seeds are fully mature, the stems turn a silverish grey and break off from the roots. The pods stay attached and are blown with the stems to another location.
Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo) Seed pods of blue false indigo. The species is not native to Minnesota but can be grown here. Larvae of the moth Uresiphita reversalis feed on the leaves of this and other Fabaceae species rich in quinolizidine alkaloids. Baptisia australis,Blue wild indigo,Fabaceae,Geotagged,Summer,United States,Uresiphita reversalis,indigo,quinolizidine alkaloids,seed pods

Naming

The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''bapto'', meaning "to dip" or "immerse".
Blue Wild Indigo - Baptisia australis Native to eastern and central North America. Habitat: Growing in a native plant garden along a forest edge Baptisia australis,Blue wild indigo,Geotagged,Spring,United States

Habitat

Naturally it can be found growing wild at the borders of woods, along streams or in open meadows. It often has difficulty seeding itself in its native areas due to parasitic weevils that enter the seed pods, making the number of viable seeds very low. The seeds may be toxic.
Blue Wild Indigo - Baptisia australis Native to eastern and central North America. Habitat: Growing in a native plant garden along a forest edge Baptisia,Baptisia australis,Blue wild indigo,Geotagged,Spring,United States,blue false indigo,blue wild indigo,horsefly weed,rattlebush,rattleweed

Defense

Young shoots of the plant have been mistaken for asparagus, which resulted in poisoning. The seeds may be toxic, especially for children.

References:

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Status: Unknown
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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderFabales
FamilyFabaceae
GenusBaptisia
SpeciesB. australis
Photographed in
United States of America