_edited.jpg)
This weeks Wildflower Wednesday flower is Wild Indigo.
Wild Indigo, also known as False Indigo, belongs to the pea family and usually booms May – June.
They has kidney-shaped seeds that rattle once they have ripened.
White wild indigo is poisonous to mammals, including humans and livestock but many insects feast on it.
It is the host plant for the Indigo Stem Borer moth and the Duskywing butterfly.
The flower is associated with redemption. This comes from the (outdated) novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character wears a scarlet letter “A” on her chest as a symbol of her adultery. However, she also wears a cap adorned with Wild Indigo flowers, which symbolize her hope for redemption and her desire to overcome the shame and stigma associated with her sin.
