SCIENTIFIC NAME: Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea (Baptisia leucophaea)
COMMON NAME: Cream Wild Indigo, False Indigo, Plains Wild Indigo, Longbract Wild Indigo
BLOOM TIME: May, June
PLANT PROFILE:
- Member of pea family
- Coarse, hairy bushy plant 2’ tall.
- Flower spike is 1’ long & droops with white to pale yellow 1” flowers.
- Native Americans used for cuts & fevers.
- Pawnee Nation pulverized the black seeds & mixed with buffalo fat to rub on stomach for colic,
- Indian boys used the seed pods as rattles when imitating ceremonial dances.
INSECT/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS:
- Pollinated by queen bumblebees after they emerge from hibernation in the spring.
- Is not normally bothered by mammalian herbivores because its foliage is toxic.