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Yellow Wild Indigo

Baptisia tinctoria

CommonPlant
Illustration of Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

Yellow Wild Indigo is a bushy native prairie wildflower with bright yellow pea-like flowers and clover-like leaves. Like blue wild indigo, it is a larval host for several specialist butterflies and a nitrogen-fixer. The plant turns black when dried and was used as a substitute for true indigo dye by early colonists.

Habitat
Dry open woods, pine barrens, and forest edges in eastern North America
Diet
Larval host for wild indigo duskywing and other specialist moths
How common
Common

Best time to see a Yellow Wild Indigo

The best time to see a Yellow Wild Indigo is May–July, when about 70% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 4,613 research-grade iNaturalist observations.

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