Dig into Plants: Blue False Indigo

Blue False Indigo

Other Common Names: Blue Wild Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo

Scientific Name: Baptisia australis

Native to Alabama: Yes


 
 
Blue False Indigo
Wikimedia - Joah-Pol GRANDMONT
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Learn more about...
 
Basic Information
Classification Button
Maintenance
Adaptations Button
Plant ID
Life Cycle
 


 
Basic Plant Information
 
Blue False Indigo
  • I am a vascular plant with no woody stems above ground, so I am herbaceous.
  • I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
  • I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
  • I can grow 3 - 4 feet high and 3 - 4 feet wide.
       Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
                     Benny Simpson

     Click on image to enlarge it
 



















 

  
Ecological Benefits
 
This plant provides food for:
 
Butterflies Caterpillars Native Bees Hummingbirds Other Pollinators
  Wild Indigo Duskywing, Orange Sulpher, Clouded Sulpher, Frosted Elfin, Eastern Tailed-blue, Hoary Edge    
     
Other Plants Found in Alabama with Similar Ecological Benefits: 
 
White Baptisia
(Baptisia alba)
Gopherweed
(Baptisia lanceolate)
 
   

   
Maintenance Notes
 
  • Dormant in winter.
  • Flowers can be cut for an indoor vase.
  • Pruning or cutting back before winter is optional but not necessary.
  • Trimming or shearing foliage after bloom helps maintain rounded plant appearance.
  • Trimming may eliminate developing seed pods which can be visually pleasing in appearance.
  • Stems break off on their own and blow away, or they can be removed.
 
  • In late fall and into winter the leaves turn silver-gray and the seed pods turn black.
  • When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds.  Water should reach all roots.
  • Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
  • Requires average amount of water.
Average watering: water two times per week during the summer and once per week during the rest of the year.
 

  
Habitat Requirements
 
This plant prefers:
Full Sun
(6+ hours of sun per day)
 
   
Average Watering
Well-drained, Clay, Limestone, Acidic, 
or Moist Soil
 
 

   
  
Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification
 
LEAF DESCRIPTION
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center
Julie Makin
Click on image to enlarge it
Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)
       
Shape:
Subulate 
Margin:
Entire/Smooth
Arrangement:
Alternate
Form:
Palmately compound
 
Description:
Up to 2-inch leaves are divided into three leaflets (trifoliate); bluish-green color; silvery-gray in Fall

   
 
   
 
FLOWER DESCRIPTION
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Ray Mathews
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Flower Shapes Chart (JPG)
       
Color:
Blue/Purple
Shape:
Papilionaceous
(pea-shaped) 
Bloom Months:
April - July
     
Description:
Congested in dense, erect, racemes (compact cluster of small flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem) on stem 4-16 inches long; flower is 1 inch long
 
  
 
SEED DESCRIPTION
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
Tracy Slotta
Click on image to enlarge it
     
Type:
Fruit - Dry Seed Pod
Description:
dark brown-blackish (when
mature), 1-3-inch long, inflated, oblong, hardened pod containing loose seeds that rattle in the wind

 
Months in Seed:
Winter
 
Plant spreads by:
Seeds and Rhizomes/ Tubers/ Roots & Shoots
In the fall, stems with seed pods break off at ground level and tumble in the wind to a new location. Over time, plants develop slowly expanding clumps with deep and extensive root systems.
 
 
Plant Life Cycle
Plant Life Cycle:
  • All plants start life as a seed.
  • The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots.
  • The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground.
  • After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers.
  General Plant Life Cycle - Dreamstime
Click on image to enlarge it
   
Plant Life Cycle continues:
  • After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed.
  • When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again.
  • Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.
  Blue False Indigo Seed Pod
Wikimedia - Kurt Stueber

Click on image to enlarge it
 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

 
Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)
QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)
   
Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Ready as-is PDF
Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Editable Word Doc
   
Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Ready as-is PDF
Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Editable Word Doc
       










  

INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT


Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Logo
 
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Logo
Alabama Plant Atlas Logo
 
Alabama Butterfly Atlas Logo
.