Yellow wild indigo is a native herbaceous perennial in the bean family (Fabaceae) native to eastern North America. This plant is sometimes called a rattleweed because of the ripe pods' rattling noise. Tinctoria means "used for dye" in Latin, referring to dyes that were created from this plant. This shrub grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide in full sun to light shade in well-drained garden soils. The deep tap root makes it drought-tolerant but difficult to transplant. It tolerates poor soils, dry soils and erosion. The bright yellow flowers appear in late spring to early summer in clusters above the foliage and are sometimes sparse. The foliage is gray-green and stays attractive throughout the season. Plant in a woodland, cottage, native, or meadow garden as a specimen or in small groups. Showier false indigos are available and this plant may be best used in a naturalized area. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems. Fire Risk: This plant has a medium flammability rating. VIDEO Created by Homegrown featuring Mark Weathington , Director of JC Raulston Arboretum More information on Baptisia .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 2 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 9 in. | Width: 2 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Erect
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Gray/Silver; Green
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Grayish green leaves are fine textured in a mound and about 1 foot long..
Flower color
Cream/Tan; Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Irregular; Lipped
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Pea-shaped flowers are up to 0.5 inches long in 4-5 inch long racemes racemes. Blooms from late spring to early summer. Blooms are sparser than other species
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Black
Fruit type
Legume
Fruit value
Good Dried; Showy
Fruit detail
Puggy, inflated bean pods are seen from July to November. They come after the flowers have bloomed. They are ripe when black, and the pod sounds like a rattle because of the seeds inside. Some people like the looks of the seed pods for ornamental interest.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Green flowering stem
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
South Eastern Canada to North Central & Eastern U.S.A
Wildlife value
This plant is a larval host to Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) caterpillars which have several broods and appear from April through November in the north and throughout the year in the deep south and Mexico. Flower nectars are attractive to bees and adult Pearl Crescent butterflies.
Attracts
Bees; Butterflies; Pollinators
Play value
Attracts Pollinators; Wildlife Food Source
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Fall; Summer
Fruit type
Legume
Uses (ethnobotany)
Indigeous people used this plant to make dyes though they were inferior to the dyes made with plants from the Indigofera genus. Blue dye came from the leaves and yellow from the flowers.