Baptisia tinctoria is found throughout the eastern United States, west to Minnesota, and south to Florida.

[4] As it is rare in some parts of its range, it is protected by some state authorities: in Kentucky it is threatened; in Maine it is considered endangered.

[6] The multiple bushy stems of Baptisia tinctoria reach 2 to 3 feet tall.

The leaves are silver-green; each is divided into three leaflets about ½ inch long.

On Martha's Vineyard, the species is a tumbleweed: it grows in a globular form, breaks off at the root in the autumn, and tumbles about.