122 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
VII. 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 
becoming black in drying.* 
1. B. tinctoria, R. Br. Wuitp InpiGo. 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, 
34 in. long. Pod globose, ovoid, on a stalk about the length of the 
calyx, point long and slender. Plant blackening in drying. Com- 
mon on dry, sandy soil.* 
2. B. leucophea, Nutt. Low, hairy, and branching. Leaves 
nearly sessile, leaflets oblanceolate or obovate-spatulate. Stipules tri- 
angular-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, Torr. and Gr. Stout, smooth, and covered with 
a bloom, 3 ft. or more high, with spreading branches. Petioles 
short ; lanceolate 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. Wuite Witp Inpico. Stem smooth and 
with a bloom, often purple, 2-3 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 slender and soon deciduous. Plant unchanged in drying. 
In damp soil.* 
5. B. australis, R. Br. Brur Fase Inpigo. 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 cultivated for ornament.* 
