Dig into Plants: Blue False Indigo

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Blue False Indigo

Other Common Names: Blue Wild Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo

Scientific Name: Baptisia australis

Native to Alabama: Yes

Wikimedia – Joah-Pol GRANDMONT

Learn More About...

Basic Plant Information

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Benny Simpson

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.

Ecological Benefits

This plant provides food for:

Butterflies

Caterpillars

Hoary Edge

Native Bees

Hummingbirds

Other Pollinators

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

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center – Julie Makin

LEAF DESCRIPTION

Up to 2-inch leaves are divided into three leaflets (trifoliate); bluish-green color; silvery-gray in Fall

Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)


Shape: Subulate	Margin: Entire/Smooth

Arrangement: Alternate	Form: Palmately compound

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Ray Mathews

FLOWER 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

Flower Shapes Chart (JPG)


Color: Blue/Purple	Shape: Papilionaceous (pea-shaped)	Bloom Months: April – July

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database – Tracy Slotta

SEED DESCRIPTION

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.


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 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

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

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Ready as-is PDF

QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Editable Word Doc

Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Editable Word Doc

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