Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo)

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

Height, Spread: 3-4 ft, 2-4 ft

Water/Soil: Average, well-drained, clay, acidic

Light: Full sun-part shade

Bloom: Spring-summer, purple-blue showy flowers on spikes

Native Range: Eastern & Central USA

Qualities: Attractive to pollinators, Host plant, Drought-tolerant, Deer-resistant, NC Native

Notes: Herbaceous perennial commonly found in woodland margins and prairies in the wild. Attractive to pollinators and a larval host plant for the Orange Sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme), the Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice), the Frosted Elfin butterfly (Callophrys irus), the Eastern tailed-blue butterfly (Cupido comyntas), the Hoary edge butterfly (Achalarus lyciades), and the Wild Indigo dusky wing butterfly (Erynnis baptisiae). Best used in a native or drought tolerant garden or in a naturalized meadow or prairie.