X
Keyed in multiple places:

Click the number at the start of a key lead to highlight both that lead and its corresponding lead. Click again to show only the two highlighted leads. Click a third time to return to the full key with the selected leads still highlighted.

Click images to enlarge and show more photo credit.

Key to Baptisia, Key A: flowering Baptisia

Fabaceae

Baptisia

Copy permalink to share | Check for keys that lead to this key

1
Flowers lavender or blue.
  2
Leaflets 4-6 (-9) cm long, mostly > 12 mm wide; leaflets not oriented in a vertical plane; fertile stems usually 1-1.5 m tall, the leafy branches ascending; racemes 2-4 (-5) dm long, rather sparsely flowered; petioles 5-20 (-40) mm long; legumes 3.5-4 cm long, 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter; [of flood-scoured riverside cobblebars and rock outcrops, also frequently cultivated and sometimes persistent or escaped]
 ⇒ Baptisia australis
  2
Leaflets 2-4 (-5) cm long, mostly < 10 mm wide (if wider, then < 4 cm long); leaflets variously oriented (see below); fertile stems usually 0.4-1.0 m tall, the leafy branches horizontally spreading; racemes 1-2.5 (-4) dm long, rather densely flowered; petioles 0-4 (-12) mm long; legumes 3-6 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter.
    3
Leaflets mostly oriented in a vertical plane (so the plant is almost invisible when viewed from directly above); petioles (0-) 1-4 (-12) mm long; [of diabase and limestone glades, barrens, and woodlands east of the Mississippi River]
 ⇒ Baptisia aberrans
    3
Leaflets not oriented vertically; petioles (0-) 1-18 mm long [of prairies, glades, bluff tops, pastures, and roadsides west of the Mississippi River, IA and NE south through MO, KS, and OK to n. and w. AR and n. TX]
 ⇒ Baptisia minor
1
Flowers yellow, cream-white, or white.
  4
Flowers white or cream-white.
    5
Flowering pedicels 10-18 (-30) mm long, subtended by persistent bracts 10-25 mm long and 7-10 mm wide; flowers cream-white (to pale-yellow).
      6
Petioles of median leaves 4-10 mm long
 ⇒ Baptisia bracteata
      6
Petioles of median leaves 2-4 mm long.
        7
Leaves and stems glabrous; leaflets 1.5-2.5× as long as wide
 ⇒ Baptisia leucophaea var. laevicaulis
        7
Leaves and stems pubescent; leaflets (1.5-) 2.5-5× as long as wide
 ⇒ Baptisia leucophaea var. leucophaea
    5
Flowering pedicels 3-10 mm long, subtended by caducous bracts 4-7 mm long and 1-2 mm wide; flowers white.
      8
Calyx 4.5-6.5 mm long; corolla 13-16 (-18) mm long; petioles 5-10 (-20) mm long
 ⇒ Baptisia alba
      8
Calyx 7-8 mm long; corolla 20-25 mm long; petioles (of the lower leaves at least) 10-20 mm long.
        9
Legume usually 10-12 (-15) mm in diameter, rigid and tough; [of c. TN, c. KY, AL, and MS westward]
 ⇒ Baptisia lactea
        9
Legume usually 15-20 (-30) mm in diameter, thin-walled and brittle; [of NC south through GA to FL, AL, and MS]
 ⇒ Baptisia pendula
  4
Flowers yellow.
    10
Flowering pedicels 14-18 (-30) mm long, subtended by persistent bracts 10-25 mm long and 7-10 mm wide; flowers pale-yellow (to cream-white).
      11
Petioles of median leaves 4-10 mm long
 ⇒ Baptisia bracteata
      11
Petioles of median leaves 2-4 mm long.
        12
Leaves and stems glabrous; leaflets 1.5-2.5× as long as wide
 ⇒ Baptisia leucophaea var. laevicaulis
        12
Leaves and stems pubescent; leaflets (1.5-) 2.5-5× as long as wide
 ⇒ Baptisia leucophaea var. leucophaea
    10
Flowering pedicels 2-10 mm long, subtended by caducous bracts 2-10 mm long and 1-2 mm wide; flowers bright yellow.
      13
Leaflets mostly 1-2.5 (-4) cm long, 1-2.5× as long as wide, the petiolules 0-1 mm long; corolla 12-16 mm long; racemes numerous, terminating most of the branches
 ⇒ Baptisia tinctoria
      13
Leaflets mostly 4-9 cm long, 1.5-4× as long as wide, the petiolules 2-10 mm long; corolla 20-28 mm long; racemes solitary (-3) or numerous.
        14
Inflorescences of racemes of (3-) 5-25 (or more) flowers; stipules persistent or caducous.
          15
Plant persistently cinereous-pubescent; stipules (some of them at least) persistent; plants blackening on drying
 ⇒ Baptisia cinerea
          15
Plant puberulent when young, soon glabrate to glabrous; stipules caducous; [of MS westward]; plants not blackening on drying
 ⇒ Baptisia sphaerocarpa
        14
Inflorescence either of solitary axillary flowers or flowers in clusters of 2-4 in axils or in terminal racemes of 2-4 (-10) flowers; stipules caducous.
          16
Petiolules 2-3 mm long; leaflets 1-2.5× as long as wide; [of LA, AR, TX, and OK]
 ⇒ Baptisia nuttalliana
          16
Petiolules 4-10 mm long; leaflets 1.7-5× as long as wide; [of SC, GA, FL, and AL].
             17
Leaflets 1.7-3.2 (-5)× as long as wide, the larger typically > 2 cm wide; flowers in racemes of (1-) 3-10 flowers; fruits usually ellipsoid, often > 2× as long as wide; [FL Panhandle, s. AL, and c. peninsular FL]
 ⇒ Baptisia elliptica
             17
Leaflets 3-5× as long as wide, usually < 1.5 cm wide; flowers usually solitary or in clusters of 2-3; fruits broadly ellipsoid or subspheroidal, < 2× as long as wide; [se. SC south through GA Coastal Plain to ne. FL]
 ⇒ Baptisia lanceolata
Click images to enlarge and show more photo credit.

Key to Baptisia, Key B: fruiting Baptisia

Copy permalink to share | Check for keys that lead to this key

1
Legume 5-11 mm wide.
  2
Legume cylindric, > 2x as long as wide (ca. 20-35 mm long by 7-9 mm wide), yellow-brown, leathery in texture
 ⇒ Baptisia alba
  2
Legume globose or subspheroidal, < 2x as long as wide (ca. 7-20 mm long by 5-13 mm wide), black, woody in texture.
    3
Leaflets mostly 1-2.5 (-4) cm long
 ⇒ Baptisia tinctoria
    3
Leaflets 3.5-10 cm long.
      4
Leaflets 1.7-3.2 (-5)× as long as wide, the larger typically > 2 cm wide; infructescence nodes (1-) 3-10; fruits usually ellipsoid, often > 2× as long as wide; [FL Panhandle, s. AL, and c. peninsular FL]
 ⇒ Baptisia elliptica
      4
Leaflets 3-5× as long as wide, usually < 1.5 cm wide; infructescence nodes (fruits or aborted fruits) usually 1-3; fruits broadly ellipsoid or subspheroidal, < 2× as long as wide; [se. SC south through GA Coastal Plain to ne. FL]
 ⇒ Baptisia lanceolata
1
Legume 8-25 (-30) mm wide.
  5
Pod drying tan, thin-walled and brittle
  5
Pod drying black to blackish-brown, leathery or tough.
    7
Stems puberulent (sometimes inconspicuously so) or villous.
      8
Legume (20-) 30-40 (-50) mm long, 7.5-12.5 mm in wide; pedicels 14-18 (-30) mm long, subtended by persistent bracts 10-25 mm long and 7-10 mm wide.
      8
Legume 10-35 mm long, 4-7.5 mm wide (8-15 mm in diameter); pedicels 2-10 mm long, subtended by caducous bracts 2-10 mm long and 1-2 mm wide.
        10
Petiolules 2-5 mm long; stipules (some of them at least) persistent
 ⇒ Baptisia cinerea
    7
Stems glabrous and generally glaucous as well.
      11
Legumes smooth or leathery, becoming brittle.
        12
Legumes 2.0-4.0 (-5.0) cm long, spreading or pendent at maturity; flowers cream-white.
          13
Legume usually 15-20 (-30) mm in diameter, thin-walled and brittle; [of NC south through GA to FL, AL, and MS]
 ⇒ Baptisia pendula
          13
Legume usually 10-12 (-15) mm in diameter, rigid and tough; [of c. TN, c. KY, AL, and MS westward]
 ⇒ Baptisia lactea
        12
Legumes 3.0-6.0 cm long, acending or erect at maturity; flowers purple.
          14
Leaflets 4-6 (-9) cm long, mostly > 12 mm wide; leaflets not oriented in a vertical plane; fertile stems usually 1-1.5 m tall, the leafy branches ascending; racemes 2-4 (-5) dm long, rather sparsely flowered; petioles 5-20 (-40) mm long; legumes 3.5-4 cm long, 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter; [of flood-scoured riverside cobblebars and rock outcrops, also frequently cultivated and sometimes persistent or escaped]
 ⇒ Baptisia australis
          14
Leaflets 2-4 (-5) cm long, mostly < 10 mm wide (if wider, then < 4 cm long); leaflets variously oriented (see below); fertile stems usually 0.4-1.0 m tall, the leafy branches horizontally spreading; racemes 1-2.5 (-4) dm long, rather densely flowered; petioles 0-4 (-12) mm long; legumes 3-6 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter.
             15
Leaflets mostly oriented in a vertical plane (so the plant is almost invisible when viewed from directly above); petioles (0-) 1-4 (-12) mm long; [of diabase and limestone glades, barrens, and woodlands east of the Mississippi River] Bapti
 ⇒ Baptisia aberrans
             15
Leaflets not oriented vertically; petioles (0-) 1-18 mm long [of prairies, glades, bluff tops, pastures, and roadsides west of the Mississippi River, IA and NE south through MO, KS, and OK to n. and w. AR and n. TX]
 ⇒ Baptisia minor