Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Baptisia alba
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may find it helpful to read The Genus Baptisia in South Carolina by Bill Stringer.
Learn more about Thick-pod White Wild Indigo from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
For an in-depth treatment, peruse A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Baptisia alba var. alba
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Baptisia alba var. alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Baptisia alba var. alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-09-010:
Baptisia pendula FAMILY Fabaceae
INCLUDING A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940)
Baptisia pendula var. obovata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Baptisia alba
COMMON NAME:
Thick-pod White Wild Indigo
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm090522_027
May McCormick County SC
Black fruit [when ripe] help distinguish this from look-alike B. albescens, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm090522_029
May McCormick County SC
Leaflets up to about 3" long and often have a milky bloom on upper surface, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and palmately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm180505_1814
May Pike County GA
Camp Thunder VPA
Developing fruit.
)
JK Marlow jkm180505_1864
May Pike County GA
Camp Thunder VPA
This species has large black pods about 1.5" long and nearly 1" wide, and these hang downward, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmbalba_ec1
May
B. albescens & B. alba have been nomenclaturally confused, per Weakley's Flora.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmbalba_ec2
May
Flowers slightly more than 3/4" long (larger than those of B. albescens), per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Steve Marlow snm_bridge_baptisia2_226e
May Edgefield-McCormick Counties SC
)
Bill Stringer wcsbalba_pod
June
)
Bill Stringer wcsbapt_alba
June
)
Bill Stringer wcsbapt_albad
June
)
Bill Stringer wcstrue_baptalba
June
Flowering pedicels subtended by caducous bracts [here already gone] 1-2mm wide, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm081102_106
November Columbia County GA
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Baptisia alba
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Baptisia alba var. alba
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Baptisia alba var. alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Baptisia alba var. alba
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-09-010:
Baptisia pendula
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDING
A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940)
Baptisia pendula var. obovata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Baptisia alba
190
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry woodlands, pine flatwoods, roadsides, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Carolina Coastal Plain, uncommon in Carolina Piedmont (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Palmately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Bilaterally symmetrical
4-5 toothed or lobed calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p117
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p135
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p149
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p110
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p178
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p063
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p167
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p030?
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p124?
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p186
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p127
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p164
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p079?
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