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. 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 oblauceolate, 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. Com- 

 mon on dry, sandy soil.* 



2. B. leucophaea, 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. WHITE WILD INDIGO. 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. 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 cultivated for ornament.* 



