Baptisia australis (L.) R.Br.

Plants to 15 dm, glabrous, with one or few racemes to 4 dm; petioles 5–18 mm; stipules or some of them persistent until anthesis, lanceolate or lance-ovate, 8–20 mm; lfls oblanceolate to obovate, the larger ones 4–8 cm; bracts caducous; pedicels 5–15 mm; fls 20–27 mm; cal 8–10 mm; pods 3–5 cm, the stipe slightly exceeding the cal; 2n=18. Moist, usually rocky or gravelly soil, woods, and prairies; s. N.Y. to N.C. and n. Ga., w. to Neb. and Tex., and intr. in Vt. May, June. Var. australis, as here described, is replaced w. of the Mississippi R. by var. minor (Lehm.) Fernald, with smaller lfls, slightly larger fls, and more inflated and more evidently stipitate pods. (B. minor) A hybrid of var. minor with no. 2 [Baptisia bracteata Elliott] is B. ×bicolor Greenm. & Larisey.

Rich woods and alluvial thickets, often on river banks.

Can be grown by divisions or seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.