﻿PULSE 
  FAMILY 
  131 
  

  

  VI. 
  BAPTISIA 
  Vent. 
  

  

  Perennial 
  herbs 
  ; 
  stems 
  erect, 
  widely 
  branched. 
  Leaves 
  

   simple 
  or 
  palmate, 
  of 
  3 
  leaflets. 
  Flowers 
  in 
  racemes. 
  Calyx 
  

   4-5-lobed, 
  persistent, 
  the 
  upper 
  lobe 
  usually 
  longer 
  and 
  

   notched 
  ; 
  standard 
  rounded, 
  its 
  sides 
  reflexed, 
  wings 
  about 
  

   as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  keel. 
  Stamens 
  10, 
  distinct. 
  Pod 
  stalked, 
  long- 
  

   pointed 
  by 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  style. 
  Plants 
  usually 
  becom- 
  

   ing 
  black 
  in 
  drying.* 
  

  

  1. 
  B. 
  tinctoria 
  R. 
  Br. 
  WILD 
  INDIGO. 
  Stem 
  smooth, 
  slender, 
  2-4 
  ft. 
  

   high; 
  branches 
  slender. 
  Leaves 
  of 
  3 
  leaflets, 
  on 
  short 
  petioles, 
  the 
  

   upper 
  nearly 
  sessile 
  ; 
  stipules 
  minute, 
  quickly 
  deciduous. 
  Leaflets 
  

   obovate 
  to 
  oblanceolate, 
  obtuse 
  at 
  the 
  apex, 
  wedge-shaped 
  at 
  the 
  base, 
  

   entire. 
  Racemes 
  numerous, 
  terminal. 
  Flowers 
  yellow, 
  | 
  in. 
  long. 
  Pod 
  

   globose, 
  ovoid, 
  on 
  a 
  stalk 
  about 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  calyx, 
  point 
  long 
  and 
  

   slender. 
  Plant 
  blackening 
  in 
  drying. 
  Common 
  on 
  dry, 
  sandy 
  soil.* 
  

  

  2. 
  B. 
  bracteata 
  Muhl. 
  Low, 
  hairy, 
  and 
  branching. 
  Leaves 
  nearly 
  

   sessile 
  ; 
  leaflets 
  oblanceolate 
  or 
  obovate-spatulate 
  ; 
  stipules 
  triangular- 
  

   ovate, 
  large, 
  persistent; 
  bracts 
  large 
  and 
  leaf 
  -like. 
  Racemes 
  long. 
  

   Flowers 
  large, 
  yellowish-white. 
  Pod 
  ovoid, 
  swollen. 
  Prairies 
  and 
  

   open 
  woods 
  W. 
  and 
  S. 
  

  

  3. 
  B. 
  leucantha 
  T. 
  & 
  G. 
  Stout, 
  smooth, 
  and 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  bloom, 
  

   3 
  ft. 
  or 
  more 
  high, 
  with 
  spreading 
  branches. 
  Petioles 
  short 
  ; 
  lanceo- 
  

   late 
  stipules 
  and 
  bracts 
  falling 
  off 
  early. 
  Racemes 
  erect. 
  Flowers 
  

   large, 
  white. 
  Pods 
  ellipsoidal, 
  2 
  in. 
  long, 
  borne 
  on 
  a 
  stalk 
  twice 
  as 
  

   long 
  as 
  the 
  calyx. 
  Rich 
  river 
  bottoms 
  and 
  prairies. 
  

  

  4. 
  B. 
  alba 
  R. 
  Br. 
  WHITE 
  WILD 
  INDIGO. 
  Stem 
  smooth 
  and 
  with 
  a 
  

   bloom, 
  often 
  purple, 
  23 
  ft. 
  high; 
  branches 
  slender, 
  spreading. 
  Leaves 
  

   petioled, 
  with 
  3 
  leaflets; 
  stipules 
  minute, 
  soon 
  deciduous. 
  Flowers 
  

   white, 
  mostly 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  raceme 
  which 
  is 
  1-3 
  ft. 
  long, 
  with 
  occasionally 
  

   lateral, 
  few-flowered 
  racemes. 
  Pod 
  linear-oblong, 
  the 
  point 
  very 
  slen- 
  

   der 
  and 
  soon 
  deciduous. 
  Plant 
  unchanged 
  in 
  drying. 
  In 
  damp 
  soil.* 
  

  

  5. 
  B. 
  australis 
  R. 
  Br. 
  BLUE 
  FALSE 
  INDIGO. 
  Stem 
  smooth, 
  stout, 
  

   2-4 
  ft. 
  high. 
  Leaves 
  of 
  3 
  leaflets, 
  short-petioled 
  ; 
  stipules 
  lanceolate, 
  

   persistent, 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  petioles; 
  leaflets 
  oblong, 
  wedge-shaped 
  or 
  

   narrowly 
  obovate, 
  entire. 
  Flowers 
  bright 
  blue, 
  1 
  in. 
  long, 
  in 
  terminal, 
  

   erect, 
  loosely 
  flowered 
  racemes 
  ; 
  stalk 
  about 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  calyx. 
  

   Pod 
  oblong, 
  with 
  a 
  slender, 
  persistent 
  point. 
  Banks 
  of 
  rivers 
  ; 
  often 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  for 
  ornament.* 
  

  

  VH. 
  CLADRASTIS 
  Raf. 
  

  

  A 
  moderate-sized 
  tree, 
  with 
  smooth 
  dark 
  gray 
  bark 
  and 
  

   yellow 
  wood. 
  Leaves 
  of 
  7-11 
  smooth 
  oval 
  or 
  ovate 
  leaflets. 
  

  

  