LEGUMINOSAE PULSE FAMILY 
WHITE FALSE INDIGO. LARGE WHITE INDIGO 
Baptisia leucantha T. & G. 
False Indigo is a name applied to many species of this 
genus which blacken in drying, showing the presence of a 
blue dye resembling indigo. Some species contain the dye 
in quantities suffi- 
cient for commer- 
cial use. 
The White False 
Indigo is a smooth, 
somewhat fleshy per- 
ennial 2-4 feet high, 
with numerous stout 
branches. It occurs 
in rich soil along 
railroads or other 
waste places and in 
open woods from 
Ohio and Ontario to 
Minnesota, south to 
Texas and Florida, 
blooming during June 
and July. All the leaves are as shown. 
The flowers are white and arranged on lateral branches some- 
times 1 foot long. The 2 upper teeth of the tubular calyx are 
united so that it is only 4-toothed. The reflexed standard, or 
upper petal, is about the same length as the 2 straight wing 
petals. The keel petals are also straight and nearly separate. 
The 10 stamens are distinct and there is 1 pistil. The many- 
seeded pod, about three-quarters of an inch long and ellipsoid 
or nearly cylindrical, is borne on a long stalk in the calyx and 1s 
tipped with the stout pointed style. 
The Large-bracted Wild Indigo, Baptisia bracteata (Muhl.) 
Ell., is occasionally found in Illinois. It is a smaller plant and 
hairy. The spreading stems bend over and the heavy sprays of 
showy creamy flowers, blooming in May, often touch the ground. 
The hoary pods are pointed at both ends. Prairies, from Michigan 
to Minnesota and south to Texas, are the home of the Large- 
bracted Wild Indigo, a species which has gotten its common name 
from the large, leafy and persistent stipules and bracts. 
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