White False Indigo, White Wild Indigo, Baptisia alba (L.) Vent., Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Wild White Indigo

(White Wild Indigo). The white flowers will produce seed pods in summer that can persist through the winter. The pods are shorter and fatter than those of False Blue Indigo. Stems can be two to four feet high with the flower raceme raising above. Flowers are 1/2" to 3/4" long on a short stalk. Not as well adapted to the home garden as False Blue Indigo. Seeds can be germinated in the spring after cold storage. Forms a shrub like mound. Leaves and seed pods turn blackish in the fall. The leaves are palmately-divided into 3 to 5 leaflets, usually 3. The true Indigo is Indigofera tinctoria L. hence these Baptisia's with blue or white flowers are termed "false". The genus name Baptisia is from the Greek meaning "to dye" as a dye can be made from the plant but it is inferior. The species name, alba, is Latin for "white."

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	White False Indigo	Baptisia alba (L.) Vent. var. macrophylla	Pea	Upland	Early Summer
Other names and notes	(White Wild Indigo). The white flowers will produce seed pods in summer that can persist through the winter. The pods are shorter and fatter than those of False Blue Indigo. Stems can be two to four feet high with the flower raceme raising above. Flowers are 1/2" to 3/4" long on a short stalk. Not as well adapted to the home garden as False Blue Indigo. Seeds can be germinated in the spring after cold storage. Forms a shrub like mound. Leaves and seed pods turn blackish in the fall. The leaves are palmately-divided into 3 to 5 leaflets, usually 3. The true Indigo is Indigofera tinctoria L. hence these Baptisia's with blue or white flowers are termed "false". The genus name Baptisia is from the Greek meaning "to dye" as a dye can be made from the plant but it is inferior. The species name, alba, is Latin for "white."