white wild indigo

not listed

N5 - Secure

S3 - Vulnerable

not listed

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

White wild indigo is a 40″ to 80″ tall, erect, long-lived, perennial forb that rises from a deep taproot and rhizomes.

The stems are unbranched in the middle and below, with ascending branches near the top below the inflorescence. They are light green or reddish-purple, hairless, and covered with a whitish, waxy bloom (glaucous).

The leaves are alternate and on leaf stalks that are a little over ¼″ to ½″ long. There are a pair of 3 ⁄16″ to ⅜″ long, leaf-like appendages (stipules) at the base of the leaf stalk. The stipules are usually deciduous, with some falling off as the plant matures, but usually a few remaining on the plant at maturity. The leaves are divided into 3 leaflets. The leaflets are inversely lance-shaped or inversely narrowly egg-shaped, attached at the narrower end. They are 1¼″ to 2⅜″ long, and up to ¾″ wide. The upper side grayish-green or bluish-green and hairless. The underside is paler, hairless and glaucous. The margins are untoothed.

The inflorescence is an erect, 8″ to 24″ long, spike-like cluster (raceme) of large, showy flowers at the end of the stem and branches. The inflorescences are positioned above the leaves. The central raceme is longer than the lateral ones. Below the inflorescence there are small, leaf-like appendages (bracts). The bracts are ¼″ to ½″ long and fall before or when the plant is in flower.

The individual flowers are ½″ to ¾″ long and white. They are on ⅛″ to ⅜″ long flower stalks. There are 5 green sepals united at the base into a cylinder-shaped, 5 ⁄16″ long calyx tube, then separated at the tip into an upper and a lower lip. The upper lip is unlobed or notched. The lower lip is divided into 3 triangular lobes. There are 5 white petals. The petals form a butterfly-like corolla, as is typical of plants in the Pea family. They are organized into a broad banner petal at the top, two narrower, lateral, wing petals, and between the wings two petals fused into a keel. The banner is upright, folded back along the edges, notched in the middle, and shorter than the wings or keel. The wings and keel are straight. There are 10 stamens. The stamens are distinct, not fused together. The flowers are pollinated by bumble bees (Bombus spp.). There is no fragrance.

The fruit is a large, drooping seedpod. It is ellipse-shaped to oblong, inflated, 1″ to 1½″ long, and 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ wide. It is green at first, turning brown as it ripens and black when it dries.

40″ to 80″

White

Cream wild indigo (Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea) is a much smaller plant, no more than 24″ in height at maturity. The entire plant is persistently hairy. The stipules are larger, ⅜″ to 1¼″ long, and are persistent, remaining on the plant at maturity. The inflorescences spread laterally, and are positioned below the level of the leaves. The floral bracts are much larger, ⅜″ to 1¼″ long, and remain on the plant at maturity. The flowers are creamy yellow and appear earlier, May to June.

Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies, savannas, open, upland woods, railroads. Full to partial sun.

June to July

White wild indigo seed is sometimes used in prairie restorations.

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Uncommon

The large false indigo with large white flowers common in the central states was traditionally referred to as Baptisia leucantha. The name B. alba was applied to a similar species in the southeast that has very different fruit and usually smaller flowers. In 1969 it was determined that the name Dolichos lacteus referred to the plant then being called B. leucantha. It was older and valid and therefore had precedence. The species was then given the name B. lactea. This new name was used in several works in the subsequent years, including the widely influential Gleason and Cronquist (1991). A review of the type specimen of Baptisia alba by B.L. Turner at the British Museum in 1982 showed that specimen to be the same as B. lactea. B. alba is older and therefore takes priority over both B. leucantha and B. lactea. The southeastern species was renamed B. albescens and the central states species became B. alba. In 2006 B.L. Turner attempted to restore the southeastern species to B. alba and the central states species B. lactea. His reinterpretation was complex and not clear.

Today (4/1/2021), ITIS, GRIN, and the Minnesota DNR have adopted the name B. lactea. Almost all other authoritative taxonomic sources use the name B. alba, including USDA Plants, Flora of North America, Plants of the World Online, and World Flora Online.

White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba variety macrophylla Bean Family (Fabaceae))

Found on the western end of McDonough Lake at the edge of what looks like a prairie restoration area. There were several groupings, so it looks like they were deliberately planted there.

Plant

Inflorescence

Flowers

Leaves

Stem

Infructescence

Developing Fruit

Mature Fruit

Winter

Location: Weaver Dunes Preserve, Cox Unit

Location: Weaver Dunes Preserve, Cox Unit

Location: Apple Blossom Overlook Park

Location: Kellogg Weaver Dunes SNA, Weaver Dunes Unit

White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba variety macrophylla Bean Family

Location: Lebanon Hills Regional Park

Found on the western end of McDonough Lake at the edge of what looks like a prairie restoration area. There were several groupings, so it looks like they were deliberately planted there.