Putnam Park Wildflowers


Flower ID: IMG_1728.JPG-06-17-2022
Flower name (scientific): Baptisia lactea (Raf.) Thieret PY: 1969. Pronunciation guide: (phonetic spelling) bap-TEE-sha lak-TAY-ah
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 milk-colored or milky-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:
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: (AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, WI) Click here for distribution map
In Canada:
References:
Synonym(s):
Basionym: Dolichos lacteus Raf. in Fl. Ludov.: 103 (1817).
Homotypic Synonym(s): POWO lists 1 homotypic synonym for this species.
Heterotypic Synonym(s): na
Autonym( ): Baptisia lactea var. lactea (The other variety accepted is Baptisia lactea var. pendula (Larisey) B. L. Turner that is native to Florida, Georgia, Nort h Carolina, and South Carolina.)
Wetland Status (NC): FACU
Wetland Status (MW): FACU