540 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



large standard, but not longer than the wings ; stamens 10, distinct ; pods stalked, 

 roundish, oblong, inflated, and many-seeded; seeds often spreading and rattling. 

 About 16 species in Eastern North America. 



Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br. Blue False-Indigo 



Tall, smooth, stout perennial 4-5 feet high; leaves short-petioled ; leaflets 

 oblong or oblanceolate, obtuse ; stipules conspicuous, persistent ; racemes terminal, 

 loosely flowered; 1-2 feet long, erect; flowers blue. 



Distribution. From Western Penn. to Arkansas and Kansas to Ga. 



Baptisia tinctoria. (L.) R. Br. Yellow or Indigo Broom 



A smooth, slender perennial herb 2-3 feet high ; leaves nearly sessile ; leaflets 

 obovate or oblanceolate, sessile or nearly so; racemes few-flowered; flowers 

 yellow. 



Distribution. In dry soil from Maine to La., west to Minn. 



Poisonous properties. Baptitoxin which is probably the same as cytisin oc- 

 curs in Baptisia titictoria. The glucoside baptisin C^gH^^O^^ occurs in some 

 species of the genus. 



Dr. Millspaugh states that disturbances produced by taking considerable 

 quantities of the tincture are : 



Vertigo; dull, heavy headache with weakness and weariness of bodj^ and tendency 

 to delirium; soreness and lameness of the eyeballs, with hot, flushed face; tongue coated 

 white, yellow, or yellowish-brown; loss of appetite; nausea, and burning in the stomach; 



Fig. 297. Wild Indigo (Baptisia bracteata). Said 

 ot be poisonous. (.\da Ilayden.) 



