North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Baptisia albescens

Baptisia albescens Small

spiked wild indigo, narrow-pod white wild indigo

Image ID: 10362
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: BAAL3
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Baptisia albescens
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-01-23

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 perennial of dry, open woodlands and woodland borders, pine flatwoods and roadsides.
STEMS: Stems 1-several from a crown, stout, unbranched, blue-green to gray-purple and with a waxy coating, smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, the petioles with small stipules at the base, divided into 3 elliptic leaflets with rounded tips, each 1/2-2 1/2 in. long.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in 1--several long, erect, terminal spikes extending above foliage; white or cream with yellow; less than ¾ in. long; bilaterally symmetric; with typical pea-flower shape, including an erect “banner” petal.
FRUITS: Fruit an erect, yellowish-brown and leathery, narrowly cylindrical seed pod.
COMMENTS: The similar Baptisia alba has larger flowers (about 1 in. long) and a thinner-walled, blue-green, nodding seed pod.
HEIGHT: 2-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Trifoliate
LEAF RETENTION:

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

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

BLOOM COLOR: White

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Jun-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Dry forests, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Another excellent native perennial for your sunny garden. This white flowered Baptisia blooms in Spring and is a magnet for bees. Sturdy stems hold spikes of creamy white flowers which will, after their nature, mature into green pea pods. The pods then dry light brown on the stem, rattling as the seeds within dry. This plant is considered poisonous. Easy plant to grow, give it a home that is permanent as members of this genus do not like to be moved once planted. This genus supports up to 15 species of lepidoptera.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Well-drained
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
335	HORT	2010-01-01	Sharpe	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
331	2011-0198	2011-09-02	335	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
790	331	43	NCBG staff	2011-11-02	View
791	331	23	NCBG staff	2011-11-02	View
792	331	102	Liloia	2011-12-06	View
793	331	16	NCBG staff	2011-11-20	View
794	331	29	Mixon	2012-10-02	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: BAAL3
USDA Common Name: Spiked Wild Indigo
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN, VA)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
16571	S3	S3	G4	G4	W1

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Baptisia albescens
COMMON NAME: Narrow-pod White Wild Indigo, Spiked Wild Indigo
SYNONYMY: [= I, K, S, SE, Va, WH3; = B. alba - C, F, G, Q, RAB, W, X, Y, misapplied; > B. alba - Z; > B. albescens - Z]
PHENOLOGY: May-Jul; Jun-Oct.
HABITAT: Dry woodlands, pine flatwoods, roadsides.
COMMENTS: Se. VA south through NC, SC, and GA to n. FL, e. AL and e. TN. The fruits are unlike any of our other species in being cylindric, about 3� as long as the diameter, and yellowish-brown (rather than black) when mature.
RANGE MAP: Baptisia albescens.png

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 10362 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 10362 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 12356 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)