BAPTISIA

(Lat.), n. f. Ba*p(ba®p)-ti?s’i?-a3, From Bamrec, to dye. Fr., baptisie. Of Ventenat, a genus of leguminous herbs belonging to the tribe Podalyrieæ, distinguished by the bilabiate calyx obtuse at the base, the corolla made up of nearly equal petals, of which those composing the carina are dorsally connate, the deciduous stamens, and globose or ovoid many-seeded legume. [B, 19, 42.) —B. alba [R. Brown]. Syn.: Sophora Walt, (seu Podalyria Willdenow], seu Crotalaria [Linnæus]) alba. A plant 2 to 3 feet igh growing in the southern Atlantic states, distinguished by its elliptical oblanceolate leaflets, its cadncous, subulate stipules, shorter than the petioles, and its caducous minute bracts enveloping the white flowers. [B. 5, 34, 214.|—B. australis [R. Brown]. Syn.: Sophora australis (Bot. Mag.], Podatyria a us trat is [Ventenat] (seu cærule a [Pursh]). A species with large indigo-blue flowers, obtuse oblong-cuneate leaves, and lanceolate stipules longer than the petiole. It is found in alluvial soils throughout the central and southern United States and is held to po e medicinal properties. [B, 34, 214; “Proc. of the Am. Pharm. A oc.,” xxix, p. 438 (B).|—B: Ieneantha [Torrey and Gray]. A species 2 to 4 feet in height growing throughout the central and western United States, distinguished by its petiolate leaves with ‘obtuse cuneiform-obovate leaflets and lanceolate-linear stipules of the same length as the petioles, and by its racemes of large white flowers. In drying, the lant turns bluish-black. [B,-34.)—B. nepal ens is. An East Inlian species probably identical with the Piptanthus nepal ens is. B, 212.]—B. tinct or i a [R. Bruwn]. Syn.: Sophora [Linnæus] (seu alyria (Sims]) tinct or i a. Wild indigo. A bushy plant with sub rotund obovate bluish-green leaflets, setaceous obsolete stipules, and yellow flowers in loose terminal racemes, growing in dry places throughout the United States and Canada. The plant turns bluish black on drying. The root, which contains a resinous substance, an alkaloid baptitoxine, and two glucosides, baptin and baptisin, is nearly odorle and has a bitter and acrid nauseous taste. The O, no; 0%, not; O?, whole; Th, thin; Th?, the; U, like oo in too; U%, blue; U3, lull; U*, full; US, urn; US, like ü (German). leaves furnish a dye which is used as a substitute for indigo, and the root affords a black dye. All parts of the full-grown plant, but especially the root and its bark, have emetic and drastic properties, and have been used as a stimulant in fevers and dysentery and asa topical remedy in ill-conditioned ulcerative affections. The young stalks are eaten like asparagus. [B, 34, 81, 178, 214.)