Blue False Indigo Other Common Names: Blue Wild Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo Scientific Name: Baptisia australis Native to Alabama: Yes
	Wikimedia - Joah-Pol GRANDMONT Click on image to enlarge it

 Learn more about...
   

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Basic Plant Information
	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

 



















 

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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)

 
   

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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.

 

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

 

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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 Click on image to enlarge it
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.

 

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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

 

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

 

Quick Fact Sheet (Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign: Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign: Editable Word Doc

QR Code (Links to this Webpage)

  

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INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT


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Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Plant Database		USDA Plants Database
North Carolina Entension Gardener Plant Toolbox North Carolina Extension Going Native		Missouri Botanical Garden

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