Baptisia tinctoria is a plant so nice they named it twice. Both the genus name and specific epithet refer to the native perennial’s use as an agent in dyes — the oxidized sap, made evident when a leaf is crushed, is blackish, a shade that also comes through in the plant’s seedpods and fall senescence. Consider, too, the plant’s pea-like flowers: Baptisias are legumes that fix their own nitrogen. Its common name is yellow wild indigo.
The pictured specimen blooming this week near the Highland Center in Truro exhibits the classic Baptisia shape, an arrangement of upright stems forming a bushy bouquet. The thick tangle of leaves has been witnessed breaking off in the strong winds of the off-season, turning the otherwise deep-rooted plant into our very own tumbleweed. —Joe Beuerlein
