Baptisia alba (Linnaeus) Ventenat. Thick-pod White Wild Indigo. Phen: May-Jul; Jun-Oct. Hab: Dry woodlands, pine flatwoods, roadsides. Dist: C. NC south to n. peninsular FL, west to AL and MS.

Origin/Endemic status: Endemic

Taxonomy Comments: B. lactea is a western sibling, treated as either a species or a variety. In fruit, it is easily separated from B. albescens and most other Baptisia by its nearly spheroidal legume. B. alba and B. albescens have been nomenclaturally confused; Isely (1986a) corrects the application of the epithet ‘alba’.

Synonymy: = Fl3, WH3; = Baptisia alba (L.) Vent. var. alba – K1, K3, K4, SE3, Isely (1998); = Baptisia albescens Small – S13; = Baptisia lactea (Raf.) Thieret var. obovata (Larisey) Isely – C, Isely (1981), Mendenhall (1994a), Mendenhall (1994b), (by implication); = Baptisia lactea (Raf.) Thieret var. pendula (Larisey) B.L.Turner – FNA11.1, Turner (2006a); = Baptisia pendula Larisey – RAB; >< Baptisia alba (L.) Vent. – S; > Baptisia pendula Larisey var. obovata Larisey – Larisey (1940a)

Show in key(s)

Show parent genus

Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Great Plains: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Midwest: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Northcentral & Northeast: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily: 9