Flower ID: IMG_1728.JPG-06-17-2022 Flower name (scientific): Baptisia alba (Linnaeus) Robert Brown PY: 1811. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) bap-TEE-sha AL-ba Flower name (common): White Wild Indigo Family name (common): Pea Family name (scientific): Fabaceae Scientific name origin: Genus: From Greek bapto meaning to dye, in reference to its use as an alternative to true indigo, which was obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctoria. Specific epithet: Latin for white. Common name origin: From the flower color and its geographic habit. Indigo comes from the use by native Americans to extract a blue dye resembling indigo from some species of Baptisia, for example, Baptisia australis and Baptisia tinctoria. Flower description: Size: 0.7 to 1.0 inches (1.8 to 2.5 cm) Petal count: 5 Color: white Other: flower arrangement, Raceme Plant description: Size: 36 to 72 inches (90 to 180 cm) Stem hairy: glabrous Other: Leaf description: attachment is alternate, type is compound. Leaves have three leaflets. Size: Leaflets are about 2 to 6 cm long and about 1 to 2.5 cm wide. Color: Medium to gray green. Hairy: glabrous Other: Shape: leaf, trifoliate, leaflet ovate or oblanceolate (IL) Origin (native, introduced, invasive): Native Status (common, uncommon, threatened, rare): Uncommon Bloom time (typical): June to July Cycle (annual, biennial, perennial): Perennial Habitat: Prairies, savannas, forest openings, lake margins, marshes, roadsides, dry to moist, sun. Fruit: Cylindrical to ellipsoidal pod up to about 2 to 3.5 cm long, green-colored turning black at maturity, with a glabrous surface. Seed: About 3 to 4 mm in length, tan to yellow-brown in color. Importance to wildlife: Similar species (if any): In bloom, no close lookalikes. Ethnobotany: Used by the Choctaw and the Koasati for various ailments (Moerman, p. 120, 1998). Moerman indicates the Meskwaki used the plant, but this is mistaken, since the plant name assigned by Huron Smith (Baptisia leucantha) is actually Baptisia lactea. Latitude: 44.796810 Longitude: -91.513553 Altitude: 283.00 Distribution: In Wisconsin: (Adams, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Dunn, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, St. Croix, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood) Click here for distribution map In US: (AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI) In Canada: References: Synonym(s): Basionym: Crotalaria alba Linnaeus Sp. Pl.: 716 (1753). Homotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 4 homotypic synonyms for this species. Heterotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 4 heterotypic synonyms for this species. Autonym: na