Flora of North America species comparison

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Baptisia lactea

Baptisia lactea var. lactea

western white indigo
Photo is of parent taxon
Habit Herbs to 2 m, glabrous.
Leaves

petiolate;

stipules caducous, lanceolate, 2–8 mm;

petiole 5–15 mm;

leaflets 3, blades obovate.

Racemes

8–20-flowered, terminal, stiffly erect, ebracteate.

Pedicels

3–10 mm.

Flowers

18–25 mm;

calyx 7–8 mm, glabrous;

corolla white, 16–23 mm.

Legumes

black in age, ascending to spreading-pendent, plump, ellipsoid-cylindric, 23–50 × 10–30 mm, smooth.

10–15 mm wide;

mature stipe about as long as calyx (4–8 mm).
Seeds

20–30.

2n

= 18.

Baptisia lactea

Baptisia lactea var. lactea
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Open forests and riverine glades, silty clay or sandy soils.
Elevation 50–700 m. (200–2300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
c United States; se United States
from FNA
AR; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MI; MN; MO; MS; NE; OH; OK; TN; TX; WI
Discussion

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.)
Key
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
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia > Baptisia lactea
Sibling taxa
B. alba, B. arachnifera, B. australis, B. bracteata, B. calycosa, B. cinerea, B. hirsuta, B. lanceolata, B. lecontei, B. leucophaea, B. megacarpa, B. nuttalliana, B. perfoliata, B. simplicifolia, B. sphaerocarpa, B. tinctoria
B. lactea var. pendula
Subordinate taxa
B. lactea var. lactea, B. lactea var. pendula
Synonyms Dolichos lacteus B. leucantha
Name authority (Rafinesque) Thieret: Sida 3: 446. (1969) unknown
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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