Baptisia tinctoria (Wild indigo)

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Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br.

Wild indigo, yellow false indigo, horseflyweed, rattleweed

Yellow false indigo’s scientific name (both Baptisia and tinctoria mean “dye”) derives from its use as an inferior substitute for real indigo, an unrelated plant, for the manufacture of dye. Wild indigo is a native of North America. “Real” indigo is either Indigofera tinctoria or I. suffruticosa.

Plants: Wild indigo is multiply branched and somewhat unruly, sometimes matted in appearance, 1–3′ (30–91 cm) high. In Martha’s Vineyard, MA, it forms a ball-shaped cluster that breaks off when it dries out in the fall and rolls around like tumbleweed.

Leaves: alternate, silvery green, in triplets similar to clover. Each leaflet is ¼″ (6.3 mm) long.

Flowers: Clusters of yellow, pea-like flowers appear in July.

Fruits: Small inflated seed pods turn black when ripe. Seeds rattling around in the ripe pods prompted the common name “rattleweed.”

Habitats: Dry open woods and clearings.

The individual leaves are similar to those of clover, but the shape of the 3-leaf cluster is characteristic of wild indigo.

Edibility: Poisonous Skull & Crossbones :

Physiological Action—When fresh and taken in a sufficiently large dose Baptisia causes violent vomiting and purging. In poisonous doses there is an acceleration of respiration and reflex activity followed by death from central paralytic asphyxia.

Blue false indigo vs. real indigo.

Online References:

The Missouri Botanical Garden

Henriette’s Herbal Homepage

Wikipedia

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Baptisia gibbesii Small
Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br. var. crebra Fernald
Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br. var. projecta Fernald

8/13/2017 · Burges Pond, Westford, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 3½″ (10 × 9.2 cm)

8/4/2009 · Near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 5″ (9.3 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

7/16/2013 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm)

8/29/2016 · Massachusetts

8/13/2017 · Burges Pond, Westford, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (9.2 × 9.2 cm)

5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 13 × 9″ (33 × 22 cm)

7/16/2013 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4½″ (14 × 11 cm)

5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm)

8/6/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

7/16/2013 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm)

7/16/2013 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 3½″ (14 × 9.6 cm)

8/6/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

6/27/2012 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 8 cm)

5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts

6/14/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 8″ (23 × 19 cm) ID is uncertain

8/13/2017 · Burges Pond, Westford, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm)

7/14/2013 · Ball Hill Trail, Leominster State Forest, Leominster, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 7″ (22 × 17 cm)

8/4/2009 · Near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 3″ (10 × 8.5 cm) ID is uncertain

7/14/2013 · Ball Hill Trail, Leominster State Forest, Leominster, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 5″ (15 × 12 cm)

8/30/2010 · Proctor Rd, near 119, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 17 cm)

7/16/2013 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (16 × 11 cm)

6/27/2012 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm)

6/27/2012 · Near North Middlesex High School, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Fabales	Legumes (pea and bean families)
Family	Fabaceae	Legume family (peas and beans)
Genus	Baptisia	From Greek baptizein, “to dye,” because members of this genus were used to prepare dye
Species	tinctoria	Derived from Latin tinctura, “dyeing”: A plant that produces a color or stain when broken

About plant names...

Range: Zones 3-9:

About this map...

Baptisia tinctoria description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.