Baptisia lactea
Baptisia cinerea
western white indigo
grayhairy wild indigo
petiolate;
stipules caducous, lanceolate, 2–8 mm;
petiole 5–15 mm;
leaflets 3, blades obovate.
blackening upon drying, petiolate;
stipules mostly deciduous, lanceolate, 10–30 mm;
petiole 5–14 mm;
leaflets 3, blades oval to broadly oblanceolate.
8–20-flowered, terminal, stiffly erect, ebracteate.
5–20-flowered, axillary, secund, bracteate, bracts deciduous.
3–10 mm.
4–8 mm.
18–25 mm;
calyx 7–8 mm, glabrous;
corolla white, 16–23 mm.
21–29 mm;
calyx 6–8 mm, glabrous or puberulent;
corolla yellow, 20–28 mm.
black in age, ascending to spreading-pendent, plump, ellipsoid-cylindric, 23–50 × 10–30 mm, smooth.
ascending, ovoid, 20–30 × 6–10 mm, papery to ± woody.
20–30.
2–4.
Baptisia lactea
Baptisia cinerea
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.)
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.)
1. Legumes 10–15 mm wide; mature stipes about as long as calyces; c United States. | var. lactea |
1. Legumes 15–30 mm wide; mature stipes much longer than calyces; se United States. | var. pendula |
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