Common Name: Wild Indigo
Scientific/Latin Name: Baptisia australis
Symbolism/Spiritual Meanings: Meditation, Devotion, Helping Others, Fairness, Impartiality, Wisdom, Authority, and it’s a very spiritual color. It is linked to increased intuition and perception.
Medicinal Properties:
Wild indigo is used for infections such as diphtheria, influenza, swine flu, the common cold and other upper respiratory tract infections, scarlet fever, malaria, and typhoid. It is also used for sore tonsils (tonsillitis), sore throat, swelling of the mouth and throat, fever, boils, and Crohn’s disease.
Some people apply wild indigo directly to the skin for ulcers, sore and painful nipples, as a douche for vaginal discharge, and for cleaning open and swollen wounds. It can help to heal ulcers in the mouth, gingivitis, and help in the control of pyorrhea. Its antimicrobial and immunostimulant qualities combat lymphatic problems; and, when used with detoxifying herbs, helps to reduce enlarged lymph nodes.
Practical Uses:
An inferior blue dye can be extracted from the flowers and seed pods through a complicated process involving chemicals and fermentation.