PAPILIONACEAE. 535 



4. BAPTl'siA Vent. 



Perennial herbs, with sheathing basal scales, 3-foliolate or sometimes simple 



perfoliate leaves, and yellow, white or blue flowers in racemes. Calyx campanu- 

 late, obtuse at base, or slightly turbinate, the teeth equal and separate, or the two 

 upper ones united. Corolla and stamens as in Thermopsis. Ovary stipitate ; pod 



stalked, tipped with the subulate style, inflated, the valves often coriaceous. 

 [Greek, dyeing.] About 16 species, natives of eastern N. Am. 



Flowers blue ; plant glabrous. 1. B. australis. 

 Flowers yellow ; leaves turning black in drying. 



Racemes numerous, terminal ; plant glabrous. 2. B. tinctoria. 



Racemes few, lateral ; plant more or less pubescent. 3. B. villosa. 

 Flowers white or cream color. 



Very pubescent. 4. B. bracteata. 

 Glabrous or nearly so. 



Leaflets oblong or lanceolate, green in drying. 5. B. alba. 



Leaflets obovate-cuneate, black in drying. 6. B. leucantha. 



1. Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br. Blue Wild or Blue False Indigo. 

 (I. F. f. 2049.) Stout, 1-3 mm. high. Leaves short-petioled ; leaflets oblanceo- 

 late or oval, obtuse, cuneate at the base, entire, 2-6 cm. long, sessile or nearly so; 

 stipules lanceolate, equalling the petioles, or longer, persistent; racemes terminal, 

 erect, loosely flowered, elongated ; bracts narrow, caducous; pedicels 3-5 mm. 

 long; flowers 2-2.5 cm - l° n g; P°d oblong, stalked, 2-3 cm. long. In rich soil. 

 \V. Penn. to Kans., Ga. and Ark. June-Aug. A hybrid of this with B. bracteata 

 has been observed by Prof. A. S. Hitchcock in Kans. 



2. Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br. Wild Indigo. Yellow or Indigo 

 Broom. Horsefly-weed. (I. F. f. 2050.) Erect, succulent, 6-12 dm. high. 

 Leaves petioled; leaflets obovateor oblanceolate, 2-4 cm. long, sessile or nearly so, 

 obtuse, cuneate at the base, entire; stipules minute, caducous ; racemes few-flow- 

 ered; bracts minute, deciduous ; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; flowers about 12 mm. 

 long; pods ovoid or nearly globose, 5-10 mm. long. In dry soil, Me. to S. Ont., 

 Minn., Fla. and La. June-Sept. 



3. Baptisia villosa (Walt.) Nutt. Hairy Wild Indigo. (I. F. f. 2051.) 

 Erect, 6-12 dm. high. Leaves short-petioled or sessile; leaflets oblong, oval or 

 obovate, obtusish at the apex, narrowed or cuneate at the base, 5- 10 cm. long, en- 

 tire; stipules lanceolate or subulate, longer than the petioles; racemes sometimes 

 2.5 dm. long, many-flowered; pedicels 5-8 cm. long; flowers about 2.5 cm. long; 

 bracts caducous or deciduous; pods oblong-ovoid, about 4 cm. long, finely ap- 

 pressed-pubescent. In dry soil, Va. and N. Car. to Ark. June-July. 



4. Baptisia bracteata Ell. Large-bracted Wild Indigo. (I. F. f. 2052.) 

 Bushy -branched. Leaves sessile or short-petioled; leaflets oblanceolate or spatu- 

 late, narrowed or cuneate at the base, 4-8 cm. long, thick, reticulate-veined ; stip- 

 ules lanceolate or ovate, persistent ; racemes usually few, mainly lateral, some- 

 times 3 dm. long, reclining, many-flowered; flowers about 2.5 cm. long, showy; 

 pedicels slender, 1-3 cm. long, spreading, somewhat secund ; bracts large, persis- 

 tent; pods ovoid, 2-5 cm. long, pubescent, tipped with a long, at length deciduous, 

 style. Prairies, 111., Mich, and Minn, to La. and Tex. April-May. 



5. Baptisia alba (L.) R. Br. White Wild Indigo. (I. F. f. 2053.) Di- 

 vergently branching, 3-6 dm. high. Leaves petioled ; petioles 5-20 mm. long; 

 leaflets narrowed at the base, obtuse at the apex, 2-4 cm. long, 8-12 mm. wide, 

 rather thin; stipules and bracts minute, subulate, deciduous; racemes erect, 15-25 

 cm. long, lateral, long-peduncled ; pedicels 6-20 mm. long; flowers 12-14 mm - 

 long; pod linear-oblong, about 4 cm. long, 7 mm. thick, abruptly tipped with an 

 almost filiform deciduous style. In dry soil, Mo. to S. Ind., La., N. Car. and Fla. 

 May-June. 



6. Baptisia leucantha T. & G. Large White Wild Indigo. (I. F. f. 2054.) 

 Succulent, 6-12 dm. high, the branches ascending. Leaves petioled; leaflets 2-5 

 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, very obtuse, rounded and sometimes slightly emarginate 

 at the apex, narrowed or cuneate at the base; stipules lanceolate or linear, decid- 

 uous; racemes lateral, sometimes 3 dm. long, loosely flowered; flowers 1.5-2 cm. 

 long; pedicels 3-5 mm. long; pod ellipsoid, long-stalked in the calyx, about 2 cm. 

 long. In rich soil, Lake Erie to Minn., Ky., N. Car., Fla. and Tex. June-July. 



