Baptisia tinctoria – Wild Indigo

PREPARATION:

• Decoction
• Tincture
• Topical
• *Safe for children; reduce dosage but not frequency

SIDE EFFECTS AND TOXICITY:

• Significant purgative effects if used in large quantities
• Eye irritation
• Dermatitis
• Avoid with inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases

MISCELLANEOUS:

• Derived from the Greek word bapto or baptizo, meaning to dye or colour. Although the flowers are yellow, all parts of Baptisia yield a blue dye when dried, but requires a significant amount of product for a very small amount of dye
• If the growing plant is harvested and hung up, it is said to repel flies
• Young shoots were sometimes eaten for greens and used in soups
• A favourite medicine of the North American natives, a decoction of the roots was used as an antiseptic wash for wounds and skin complaints
• The fresh tincture was used by the Eclectics for typhoid