Baptisia lactea
Baptisia hirsuta
western white indigo
petiolate;
stipules caducous, lanceolate, 2–8 mm;
petiole 5–15 mm;
leaflets 3, blades obovate.
petiolate;
stipules persistent, elliptic to lanceolate, 10–20 mm;
petiole 1–8 mm;
leaflets 3, blades oblanceolate to obovate, surfaces hirsute.
8–20-flowered, terminal, stiffly erect, ebracteate.
1–5-flowered, terminal, bracteate.
3–10 mm.
20–40 mm, bracteolate.
18–25 mm;
calyx 7–8 mm, glabrous;
corolla white, 16–23 mm.
10–12 mm;
calyx 8–10 mm, lobes longer than tube, pubescent;
corolla yellow, 9–11 mm.
black in age, ascending to spreading-pendent, plump, ellipsoid-cylindric, 23–50 × 10–30 mm, smooth.
ascending, broadly ovoid, 8–15 × 8–10 mm, ± woody.
20–30.
2–4.
Baptisia lactea
Baptisia hirsuta
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 hirsuta is known from the western Florida panhandle; within its range, it can be locally abundant and can invade secondary sites (D. Isely 1998). It differs from B. calycosa by its geography and vestiture. M. M. Larisey (1940) maintained B. hirsuta; Isely (1981, 1998) treated it as a variety of B. calycosa. M. G. Mendenhall (1994), using DNA data, treated these two taxa as species, noting that they formed a tight clade with B. lecontei.
(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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