Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

BLUE WILD INDIGO

File Size: 80 KB

Baptisia australis (L. ) R. Br. ex W.T. Aiton var. minor (Lehm. ) Fernald

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-4 feet

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Blue false indigo.

Stems:

Erect, stout, glabrous, waxy, widely spreading branches.

Leaves:

Alternate, on stalks 1/4 to 3/4 inch long, 3-foliolate; stipules lanceolate, 1/4 to 3/4 inch long, tips pointed; leaflets oblanceolate to oval, 1 to 2 inches long, 1/4 to 1 inch wide; bases narrowed; tips blunt.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, erect, 4 to 20 inches long, loosely flowered, terminal.

Flowers:

On very short stalks; bracts lanceolate, often absent by flowering; calyces 2-lipped, glabrous; corollas papilionaceous, indigo-blue to purple, about 1 inch long; banner prominent, tip notched; stamens 10, separate.

Fruits:

Pods, oblong, 1 to 2.5 inch long, inflated, dark brown to blackish, beaked; seeds small, black.

Habitat:

Rocky prairies, hillsides, open woods, and roadsides, most abundant in limestone or clay soils.

Distribution:

East 3/4 of Kansas.

Comments:

When mature, loose seeds in the pods will rattle in the wind. The sap of blue wild indigo turns purple or slate color when exposed to air.

Blue wild indigo flower