Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br.
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Authority
Isely, Duane. 1981. Leguminosae of the United States. III. Subfamily Papilionoideae: tribes Sophoreae, Podalyrieae, Loteae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (3): 1-264.
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect, glabrous, often glaucous herb with numerous, ascending branches .4-1 m. Stems from a woody crown, solitary or 2-3 together. Lower leaves petioled to 6 mm, upper sessile; leaflets obovate-cuneate to spatulate, graduated in size, the lower and medial 1-3(-4) cm, 1.5-2.5 r, the upper usually .3-1 cm, 1-2 r, commonly revolute-margined, light and conspicuously reticulate beneath. Stipules minute, deciduous. Racemes numerous, 2-10 cm (-long-exserted 2-4 dm) with 4-10(-20) ascending-spreading flowers 12-16 mm; bracts deciduous. Pedicels 3-5 mm, without bracteoles. Calyx 4-5 mm, glabrous but minutely ciliate; lobes ca. .5 r or less. Corolla yellow, often crinkled around edge. Ovary stipitate 3-4 (-5) mm; body oblong-ellipsoid, shorter than stipe, tapering both directions, glabrous; ovules 6-9. Legume exserted-stipitate, symmetrically subglobose to ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly inflated, a trifle laterally compressed, .7-1.5 cm, abruptly or tapering-beaked; sutures somewhat carinate; valves black, woody. Seeds few-several.
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Discussion
Sophora tinctoria L. (1753); Podalvria tinctoria (L.) Willd. (1799); B. tinctoria (L.) Vent. (1808); R. Br. (1811). B. gibbesii Small (1903); B. tinctoria var gibbesii (Small) Fern. (1936). B. tinctoria var crebra Fern. (1937). B. tinctoria var projecta Fern. (1937). Baptisia tinctoria, the most widely distributed eastern member of the genus, is usually easily recognized by its small yellow flowers, small leaves and small fruit. It is the only representative of the genus in the northeastern states. Its slight extension into Canada at the east end of Lake Ontario is tabulated by Soper (1962). Fernald (1950) reported Baptisia tinctoria from Louisiana, Illinois, and Minnesota. Larisey (1940a) cited two last century sheets from Minnesota (one each under B. tinctoria and var crebra) and one from Florida. Gambill (1953) said the species is now extinct in Illinois, and this is also probably true for Minnesota. The Florida material identified as B. tinctoria that I have seen is B. lecontei. The origin of the Louisiana reports probably traces to a 1910 list of Cocks (Lasseigne, 1973), but B. tinctoria does not come near that state. Larisey (1940a) listed three varieties of Baptisia tinctoria. The typical form has the smallest leaflets and flowers and an abruptly beaked pod. Var crebra is larger, with pods that taper into the beak. Both idealized forms occur throughout the range of the species and are intergradient. Var projecta, characterized as a robust montane form with long exserted racemes, represents no unified group. Var gib-besii, defined differently by Small (1933) and Fernald (1950) has small, almost spheroid pods and seems to be most common in Virginia. Baptisia tinctoria occasionally hybridizes with B. alba, B. lactea and B. perfoliata.
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Distribution
New England and slightly into s Ontario, s Michigan (-s Wisconsin), s to e Georgia. Habitats diverse: open deciduous or pine woodlands; barrens, savannas, clearings, upward in mountains to balds; aggressive in disturbed or ruderal areas as fence rows and roadsides; usually dry (-boggy), sandy to clay soils; common and abundant. May-July (-Aug.) 0-4500 ft.
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