Wild Indigo

Description:

Baptisia (false indigo, wild indigo) is a genus of about 35 species in the family Fabaceae (legumes). Members of the genus Baptisia are all nitrogen fixing legumes, and as such, play an important role in providing fixed nitrogen for natural plant communities. They are all long-lived perennials with sturdy branched taproot systems. They are flowering herbaceous perennials with pea-like flowers, followed by pods (sometimes inflated).

Habitat:

Baptisias are found on mesic to dry soil sites, and in open to partially forested sites where they get partial to full sun. Thus you can commonly spot Baptisias along road and utility rights-of-way, or in prairie-like, or glady sites. They are native to woodland and grassland in eastern and southern North America. This one was photographed along the road near Waynesboro (Burke County), GA.

Notes:

These beautiful native legumes share the generic common name of wild indigo, a name derived from their use as dyestuff plants by the Native Americans and early Europeans. In fact, Baptisia is from the Latin baptisis, or a dipping, relating to the dyeing procedure. There are eight species in South Carolina. This is likely Baptisia alba (Wild White Indigo) or Baptisia albescens (Spiked Wild Indigo).