Baptisia Australis
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''Baptisia australis'', commonly known as blue wild indigo or blue false indigo, is a
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
in the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...
(legumes). It is a perennial herb
native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...
to much of central and eastern North America and is particularly common in the Midwest, but it has also been introduced well beyond its natural range. Naturally it can be found growing wild at the borders of woods, along streams or in open meadows. It often has difficulty seeding itself in its native areas due to parasitic
weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...
s that enter the seed pods, making the number of viable seeds very low. The plant has low toxicity levels for humans.


Names

The name of the genus is derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
word , meaning "to dip" or "immerse", while the specific name ''australis'' is
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "southern". Additional common names of this plant exist, such as indigo weed, rattleweed, rattlebush and horsefly weed. The common name "blue false indigo" is derived from it being used as a substitute for the superior dye-producing plant ''
Indigofera tinctoria ''Indigofera tinctoria'', also called true indigo, is a species of plant from the bean family that was one of the original sources of indigo dye. Description True indigo is a shrub high. It may be an annual plant, annual, biennial plant, bie ...
''.


Description

''Baptisia australis'' is an
herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...
perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
that reproduces both sexually and asexually by means of its spreading
rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
. The plant is erect and emerges from the rhizomatic network. The roots themselves are branched and deep, which helps the plant withstand periods of drought. When dug up they are woody and black in colour and show
tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...
s, wart-like projections found on the roots. The plant branches extensively about halfway up. The stems are stout and glabrous, or hairless. Broken stems secrete a sap that turns dark blue on contact with the air. The plant may attain a height of , and a width of . The grey-green trifoliate
leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are arranged alternately, and are further divided into clover-like leaflets that are
obovate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...
in shape, or wider towards the apex. Flower spikes appear in early summer. Emerging at the pinnacle are short, upright terminal
raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...
s with
pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...
-like
flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s that vary in colour from light blue to deep violet. The flowers, which bloom from spring to summer depending on the region, are bisexual and are roughly long. The
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
is a bluish black inflated and hardened pod that ranges from in length by . They are oblong in shape and are sharply tipped at the apex. At maturity they will contain many loose
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s within. The seeds are yellowish brown, kidney shaped and about in size. The leaves emerge about one month before flowering and are shed approximately one month after the pods form. Once the seeds are fully mature, the stems turn a silverish grey and break off from the roots. The pods stay attached and are blown with the stems to another location.


Toxicity

Young shoots of the plant have been mistaken for asparagus, which resulted in poisoning. The seeds may be toxic, especially for children.


Taxonomy

''Baptisia australis'' was scientifically described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1767 with the name ''Sophora australis''. In 1811
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
moved it to the genus '' Baptisia'', which had been created by
Étienne Pierre Ventenat Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794). While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, ...
in 1808. There are two recognized varieties of ''B. australis'':


Cultivation

''Baptisia australis'' is the most commonly cultivated species in its genus, and is also cultivated beyond its native continent in other areas such as Great Britain, where it has gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
. It is considered to be a desirable plant in the garden due to its deep blue to violet spring flowers, the attractive light green compound leaves, and also for the somewhat unusual oblong fruits that emerge in the late summer. In a garden setting Baptisa australis can get aggressive and require regular pruning. ''Baptisia australis'' grows best in lime-free, well-drained stony soil in full sun to part shade. It grows to about tall in height with a similar spread. Like other members of the genus, it has a very deep taproot, which makes it quite difficult to move once planted. It thrives in full sun and requires water only in times of low rainfall. One slightly negative feature it that the leaves tend to drop early in the fall, but this may be avoided by cutting the dead stems as they die back. It is hardy in
USDA zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
3 through 8. It is commonly employed as a border plant in gardens. While there are no commonly available cultivars, several hybrids involving ''B. australis'' have been created, such as 'Purple Smoke', which is a cross with '' Baptisia alba''. The variety ''B. australis'' var. ''minor'' is also used occasionally in gardens. It is much shorter at only in height, but the flowers are equal in size.


Other uses

Several Native American tribes have made use of the plant for a variety of purposes. The
Cherokees The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
traditionally use it as a source of blue dye, a practice later copied by European settlers. They have also used the roots in teas as a purgative or to treat tooth aches and nausea, while the Osage make an eyewash with the plant. Ripened seed pods have been used for children's rattles.


References


External links


Blue Wild Indigo.
Kansas Wildflowers & Grasses. {{Taxonbar, from=Q916179 australis Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Northeastern United States