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Both Blue and White Wild Indigo are blooming in the prairie!![]()
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Blue Wild Indigo (Batista australis) and White Wild Indigo (Batista alba) are very noticeable in the landscape. They stand out, above the surrounding prairie grasses, with showy spikes of pea-like flower clusters. These herbaceous perennial plants are bushy in appearance with compound leaves that are divided into three oval leaflets that are bluish-gray in early summer. ![]()
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After their blooming period, the flowers are replaced by inflated green seed pods that will turn black when they mature in the fall. The leaves also change color over time and get darker as the seasons progress. ![]()
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Species of wild indigo are also sometimes called false indigo because Blue Wild Indigo flowers were used to make blue dye. Extracting the pigment from the plant was not an easy task and the need for false indigo subsided when true indigo was imported into the United States. ![]()
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What signs of spring do you see? Visit us for a hike or take a walk around your neighborhood looking for cyclical events influenced by seasonal changes.![]()
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Photos: Stephanie Briand, Aldo Leopold Nature Center![]()
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#PhenologyFriday #WildIndigo #WIEnviroEd #NatureIsEverywhere #NatureIsForEveryone #EveryBodyOutside
