Baptisia. LEGUMLNOS^. 187 



Tribe VIII. SOPHOREjE. DC. 



SophohejE and Podalyrieje. Bcnlh. 

 Corolla papilionaceous. Stamens 10, distinct: anthers uniform. Legume continuous, or 

 frequently moniliform, but not jointed. Embryo incurved or injlexed, or often straight. 

 — Leaves unequally pinnate, palmate or simple, not stipellate. 



22. BAPTISIA. Vent. dec. nov. p. 9 ; Eenth. comm. Leg. mem. p. 2; Endl. gen. 6421. 



WILD or FALSE INDIGO. 



[ From the Greek, baplo, to i!yc ; some of the species yielding a coloring matter lilie indigo.] 



Calyx campanulate, 4 - 5-cleft at the summit. Vexillum rather shorter than the wings, or 

 about tlie same length, orbicular, emarginate, the sides reflexed : wings oblong : keel 

 slightly incurved, nearly as long as the wings ; the petals somewhat united. Ovary stipate, 

 with numerous ovules. Style curved, dilated below, attenuated upward : stigma minute. 

 Legume slipilate, inflated. — Perennial North American herbs, with simple or paltnately 

 trifoliolate leaves. Stipules often small or caducous. Flowers in terminal racemes, or 

 sometimes solitary and axillary. Pedicels usually without bracts. 



1. Baptisia tinctoria, R. Brown. Common Wild Indigo. 



Plant smooth, much branched ; leaves trifoliolate, nearly sessile ; leaflets obovate-cuneiform, 

 rounded and often emarginate at the summit ; stipules and bracts minute, deciduous ; racemes 

 short, few-flowered ; pedicels shorter than the (yellow) flowers ; legume oval-globose, on a 

 long stipe. — R. Br. in hort. Kew. {ed. 2 ) 3. p. 6 ; Ell. sk. l.p. 467 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 282 ; 

 Torr. fl. l.p. 441 ;. DC. prodr. 2. p. 100 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 129 ; Beck, bot. p. 77 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 404 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 386. Sophora tinctoria, Linn. 

 Podalyria tinctoria, Lam. ill. t. 327 ; Willd. sp. 3. p. 503 ; Michx. fl. I. p. 265 ; Pursh, 

 fl. l.p. 308 ; Bot. mag. t. 1099 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 170. 



Plant 2-3 feet high, with very numerous spreading branches, somewhat glaucous. Leaf- 

 lets about three-fourths of an inch long : common petiole 1-3 lines long, in the upper leaves 

 almost wanting. Stipules very minute. Racemes 3 - e-flowered, loose. Flowers about half 

 an inch long. Calyx 4-cleft ; the upper segment (consisting of the 2 upper ones united) 

 broader. Corolla bright yellow. Ovary with 6 - 8 ovules. Legume about half an incli long, 

 exclusive of the stipe which is nearly of the same length, acuminate with tlie persistent base 

 of the style ; of a dark bluish color, or nearly black when ripe. Seed ovoid, light brown, 

 with a small round hilum. 



Dry sandy woods and fields. Fl. Jime - August. Fr. September. The plant usually 

 turns black in drying. It yields a quantity of coarse indigo, much resembling the common 

 fig blue. It is also employed medicinaily, being reputed to possess aslringcnt, cathartic, 

 emetic and stimulating properties. Sec Thatcher^ Dispensatory, and Wood ^ Bache's U. S. 

 Dispens. appen. 



24* 



