Blue Wild Indigo
Baptisia australis
Legume Family, Fabaceae
Baptisa Australis is a bushy, robust, perennial plant, rising 2 to 4 feet high. The blue-purple flowers are are arranged in dense, upright terminal spikes; leaves are divided into three leafets.
Native to Central and Eastern North America, look for this pretty plant at the borders of woods, along streams and in open meadows.
Baptisia is a hardy plant that does well without watering. It blooms between April and August. The pods are often used in dry flower arrangements.
The Cherokees would use the plant as a source of blue dye for their clothes.
