Baptisia cinerea |
Baptisia lactea |
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grayhairy wild indigo |
western white indigo |
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Habit | Herbs erect, to 1 m, glabrous or pubescent. | Herbs to 2 m, glabrous. | ||||
Leaves | blackening upon drying, petiolate; stipules mostly deciduous, lanceolate, 10–30 mm; petiole 5–14 mm; leaflets 3, blades oval to broadly oblanceolate. |
petiolate; stipules caducous, lanceolate, 2–8 mm; petiole 5–15 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate. |
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Racemes | 5–20-flowered, axillary, secund, bracteate, bracts deciduous. |
8–20-flowered, terminal, stiffly erect, ebracteate. |
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Pedicels | 4–8 mm. |
3–10 mm. |
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Flowers | 21–29 mm; calyx 6–8 mm, glabrous or puberulent; corolla yellow, 20–28 mm. |
18–25 mm; calyx 7–8 mm, glabrous; corolla white, 16–23 mm. |
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Legumes | ascending, ovoid, 20–30 × 6–10 mm, papery to ± woody. |
black in age, ascending to spreading-pendent, plump, ellipsoid-cylindric, 23–50 × 10–30 mm, smooth. |
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Seeds | 2–4. |
20–30. |
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Baptisia cinerea |
Baptisia lactea |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | |||||
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak woodlands, sandy soils. | |||||
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
NC; SC; VA
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c United States; se United States |
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Discussion | Baptisia cinerea closely resembles B. bracteata; the floral bracts in B. cinerea are deciduous (versus persistent in B. bracteata), pedicels are shorter (4–8 versus 10–18 mm), legumes are smaller (2–3 versus 3–4 cm) with appressed (versus spreading) hairs, and leaflets are larger and readily blacken upon drying. Baptisia cinerea and B. bracteata are essentially allopatric. Hybrids between B. cinerea and other species of Baptisia have not been reported; occasional hybrids between B. cinerea and others (for example, B. lactea) would not be surprising. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Baptisia lactea forms hybrids with B. lanceolata, B. nuttalliana, B. sphaerocarpa (B. × sulphurea Engelmann), and B. tinctoria (B. × deamii Larisey). Peripheral intergradation between var. lactea and var. pendula occurs (hence their treatment as varieties); they are not known to co-occur at present. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. | ||||
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Lasinia cinera | Dolichos lacteus | ||||
Name authority | (Rafinesque) Fernald & B. G. Schubert: Rhodora 50: 201. (1948) | (Rafinesque) Thieret: Sida 3: 446. (1969) | ||||
Web links |