Cream Wild Indigo
Baptisia bracteata
Found in dry ridgetop woodlands and forests, longleaf pine sandhills, other dry woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Mississippi (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 2–2.5 feet
- Spread
- 2–2.5 feet
- Light
- Full to part sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Bloom
- March to April
- Fruiting season
- May to June
Not yet recorded · Life cycle · Leaves
County records are not available.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Who uses this plant?
23CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Baptisia
- Antheraea polyphemusPolyphemus Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Cabera quadrifasciariaFour-Lined Cabera
- Callophrys irusThe Hoary Elfin, Bog Elfin?, Frosted Elfin
- Catocala consorsThe Consort
- Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Dasylophia anguinaBlack-Spotted Prominent
Show all 23
- Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing
- Gesta zaruccoZarucco Duskywing
- Grapholita tristriganaThree-Lined Grapholita
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Palthis asopialisFaint-Spotted Palthis
- Papaipema baptisiaeWild Indigo Borer, Indigo Stem Borer
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Schinia jaguarinaJaguar Flower Moth
- Uresiphita reversalisGenista Caterpillar, Genista Cbroom Moth
- Anacampsis lupinella
- Pococera baptisiella
- Sitochroa dasconalis
22BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Baptisia
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Baptisia
- Megachile melanophaea
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Baptisia
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Cream
- Fruit begins
- May
- Fruit ends
- June
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to April” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Fruit begins · “May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “2–2.5 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Light · “Full to part sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil · “medium to dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “2–2.5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden: Baptisia bracteata
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5T4? [G4?] |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications