Flora of North America species comparison

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Baptisia sphaerocarpa

Baptisia perfoliata

green wild indigo, round wild indigo, yellow wild indigo

cat-bells
Habit Herbs erect, to 1 m, glabrescent. Herbs ascending or erect, much-branched, to 1 m, glabrous.
Leaves

petiolate;

stipules deciduous, subulate, 4–16 mm;

petiole 1–4 mm;

leaflets 3 to mid stem, or 1 or 2 distally, blades obovate or elliptic to oblanceolate.

sessile;

stipules absent;

leaflet 1, blade perfoliate, broadly ovate-elliptic.
Racemes

5+-flowered, terminal, stiffly erect, bracteate, bracts caducous.

1-flowered, axillary, ebracteate.
Pedicels

2–5 mm.

absent.
Flowers

18–22 mm;

calyx 7–9 mm, glabrous;

corolla bright yellow, 16–20 mm.

15–17 mm;

calyx 5–7 mm, glabrous;

corolla bright yellow, 13–15 mm.
Legumes

ascending to spreading, suborbicular, 7–11 × 7–11 mm, woody, glabrous.

ascending, ovoid, 10–15 × 8–12 mm, abruptly beaked, woody.
Seeds

2–4(–6).

2–4.
2n

= 18.

= 18.

Baptisia sphaerocarpa

Baptisia perfoliata
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Mostly clay or silty-clay soils. Open pine and pine-oak wood­lands, sandy soils.
Elevation 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
LA; MO; MS; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Baptisia sphaerocarpa forms hybrids with B. lactea, B. leucophaea (B. × intermedia Larisey [= B. × bushii Small and B. × stricta Larisey]), and B. nuttalliana. Baptisia × bushii was treated as a species by M. M. Larisey (1940). Baptisia × intermedia, as described by Larisey, was said to be a hybrid of B. leucophaea var. glabrescens Larisey and B. viridis, which is treated here as synonymous with B. sphaerocarpa. Interestingly, these three hybrids (B. × bushii, B. × intermedia, and B. × stricta) key out in adjacent couplets in the treatment by Larisey.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Baptisia perfoliata forms hybrids with B. alba, B. lanceolata, and B. tinctoria; F1 hybrids with the latter are called B. × microphylla Nuttall.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Baptisia
Sibling taxa
B. alba, B. arachnifera, B. australis, B. bracteata, B. calycosa, B. cinerea, B. hirsuta, B. lactea, B. lanceolata, B. lecontei, B. leucophaea, B. megacarpa, B. nuttalliana, B. perfoliata, B. simplicifolia, B. tinctoria
B. alba, B. arachnifera, B. australis, B. bracteata, B. calycosa, B. cinerea, B. hirsuta, B. lactea, B. lanceolata, B. lecontei, B. leucophaea, B. megacarpa, B. nuttalliana, B. simplicifolia, B. sphaerocarpa, B. tinctoria
Synonyms B. viridis Crotalaria perfoliata
Name authority Nuttall: J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 7: 97. (1834) (Linnaeus) R. Brown in W. Aiton and W. T. Aiton: Hortus Kew. 3: 5. (1811)
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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