Baptisia tinctoria.  Wild indigo, False indigo weed, Yellow indigo  Family: Leguminosae   
PART USED: Dried root, collected in  autumn.
ACTIONS
1. Antimicrobial.[1,3]
2. Antipyretic.[1,3]
3. Antiseptic.[1,3]
4. Mild cardioactive agent.[1]
INDICATIONS
1. Infections of the upper respiratory tract - Tonsillitis,[1,3] Pharyngitis,[1,3] Acute catarrhal infection.[1]
2. Lymphadenitis,[1] Furunculosis,[1] Aphthous ulcers and sore gums- as a mouthwash.[1,3]
3. Stomatitis,[1] Gingivitis.[1]
4. Fevers.[1]
Topically- Indolent ulcers,[1] applied as ointment 1:8- liquid extract: base.[1] Sore nipples.[1,3] Leukorrhea as douche.[1,3] Boils.[3]
SPECIFIC INDICATIONS: Infection of the upper respiratory tract.[1]
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS 3X/day
Dried root  0.5-1 g or by decoction.[1]
Liquid extract  60% alcohol, 1:1  0.3-1.3 ml.[1]
Tincture (BPC1934) 2-5 ml.[1,3]

ORIGIN: North America
DESCRIPTION: Baptisia is a native plant that grows in dry hilly woods from North Carolina to southern Canada. It is a 2-3 foot high perennial, with small alternate trifoliate leaves with rounded apices, and bright yellow flowers.
Crown of root with knotty branches; the roots vary in diameter from 0.2-1.5 cm, external surface brownish, longitudinally winkled and grooved, somewhat warty due to detached rootlets. Fracture tough and fibrous, showing a thick bark and whitish wood with concentric rings.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research
The isoflavones are estrogenic.[1] The polysaccharide fraction has been shown to enhance antibody production in sheep red blood cells,[1] and stimulate phagocytosis of erythrocytes in isolated perfused rat liver.[1]
A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, multi-centre study indicated that a combination of Baptisia, Echinacia and Thuja effectively improved cold symptoms three days earlier than placebo.[3]
References
[1] Markham, K.R. et al. (1970) Phytochem. 9, 2359
[2] Vomel, T. (1985) Arzneim. Forsch. 35 II (9), 1437
[3] Heinneiske-von Zepelin HH, Hentschel C, Schnitker J, Kohnen R et al. Efficacy and safety of a fixed combination phytomedicine in the treatment of the common (acute viral respiratory tract infection). Current Medical Research and Opinion 1999;15(3):214-227. 

Immunologically active glycoproteins of Baptisia tinctoria- Article in German
N Beuscher, K H Scheit, C Bodinet, L Kopanski
Abstract
Chromatographically purified fractions of aqueous-ethanolic extracts from Baptisia tinctoria roots contained a strong lymphocyte DNA synthesis-stimulating activity. Electrophoretic analysis of these fractions revealed four distinct protein bands with molecular masses of P1 = 58 kD; P4 = 31 kD; P5 = 26 kD; and P6 = 14 kD. They contained carbohydrate as determined by periodic acid Schiff staining. An estimation of the approximate amount of sugar was done by using human transferrin as a reference, this method revealed the following values: P1 = 27%; P4 = 12%; P5 = 14%; and P6 = 8%. The mixture of proteins and every single band were immunoreactive with a polyclonal antiserum against Baptisia proteins determined in immune and dot blots, respectively. Electrophoretically purified proteins were characterized by tryptic cleavage and determination of their amino acid content. They contained several common amino acids, predominantly aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, and alanine. The content of glucosamine and/or galactosamine was less than 0.2 Mol-per cent. The four proteins revealed pI values between 5.3 and 4.7. Protein P 4 was immunochemically related to phytohemagglutinin but, in contrast to PHA-P, it exhibited no hemagglutinating activity and no leucagglutinating activity like PHA-L.
Planta Med 1989 Aug;55(4):358-63. doi: 10.1055/s-2006-962028. PMID: 2813570 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Efficacy of Baptisia tinctoria in the treatment of typhoid: its possible role in inducing antibody formation
Pratip Banerji 1, Prasanta Banerji, Gobinda Chandra Das, Aminul Islam, Shailendra Kumar Mishra, Susmita Mukhopadhyay
Abstract
Typhoid is one of the most serious infectious bacterial diseases in third world countries. It is usually treated by traditional antibiotics but due to the appearance of antibiotic resistant strains physicians opt for phyto products and other alternative medicines for the treatment of typhoid. Baptisia, an extract from indigo plant root, has been proved to be highly effective ultradilute medicine for the treatment of typhoid; however, the mode of action of the ultradilute extract is uncertain. Due to the antigenic variations of Salmonella it seems to induce immuno system by activating both T and B cells by the formation of antibodies. This principle seems to be highly effective for the development of typhoid vaccine. The present studies found that Baptisia administration possibly caused a salmonella-like reaction in the body as this extract produces an endogenous antibody similar to salmonella reaction. Thus, this study suggests that Baptisia tinctoria extract can be used for the prevention and treatment of typhoid.
J Complement Integr Med 2012 Jul 2;9:Article 15. doi: 10.1515/1553-3840.1622. PMID: 22850071 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov