Gray-hairy Wild Indigo
Baptisia cinerea
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, other dry sandy woods. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 3.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 8 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- Spring and summer
- Fruiting season
- June to July
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 3 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.
- White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
Who uses this plant?
22CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Baptisia
- Antheraea polyphemusPolyphemus Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- 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
- Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing
Show all 22
- 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
- Hardiness
- Zones 8a–9a
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- June
- Fruit ends
- July
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring and summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition differs)
- Flower color · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 8a–9a” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Gray hairy Wild Indigo
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SH |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3G4 [G4] |
| VA 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
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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