Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Baptisia cinerea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may find it helpful to read The Genus Baptisia in South Carolina by Bill Stringer.
What makes this plant unique is that after death in the fall, the entire plant turns gray to light brown and remains above ground into the winter, becoming a "tumbleweed" at times when the base of the dead stem breaks off. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
For an in-depth treatment, peruse A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Baptisia cinerea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Baptisia cinerea
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Baptisia cinerea
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-09-003:
Baptisia cinerea FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940)
Baptisia villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Baptisia villosa
COMMON NAME:
Carolina Wild Indigo, Gray-hairy Wild Indigo
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_bavi7_001_lvd
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_226143250044934
May Cumberland County NC
Carvers Creek State Park
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_580284734245619
May Cumberland County NC
Carvers Creek State Park
After frost, the plant turns silvery gray, acting like a tumbleweed in winter, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
)
Alistair Glen gwn_baptisiacinerea
May-June? Pender County NC
Similar to B. lanceolata, but has more numerous and larger flowers, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Tim Spira tps_bcinerea
Month Unknown
Pubescent perennials with coriaceous trifoliate leaves & obovate leaflets, per Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and palmately compound
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Baptisia cinerea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Baptisia cinerea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Baptisia cinerea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Baptisia cinerea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-09-003:
Baptisia cinerea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
A monograph of the genus Baptisia (Larisey, 1940)
Baptisia villosa
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Baptisia villosa
189
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, other dry sandy woods, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas
Common in Carolina Coastal Plain (where it is a narrow endemic), rare elsewhere
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Palmately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellow
Bilaterally symmetrical
4-5 toothed or lobed calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p118
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p191
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p272
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p293
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p227
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p160
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p030
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p123
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p061
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