Flora of North America species comparison

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Indigofera decora

Indigofera oxycarpa

Chinese indigo

Asian indigo, Florida keys indigo
Habit Shrubs, glabrous. Shrubs, pubescent, hairs appressed, silvery gray.
Stems

erect, arching, branched, 4–20 dm; rhizomatous.

usually procumbent, sometimes scrambling, branched, younger ones with faint zigzag pattern, from main stem at angle (30–90°), those arising from main axis usually short and stubby, 3–20 dm.
Leaves

8–25 cm;

stipules early-deciduous, linear, 1–2 mm;

petiole 1–2.5 cm;

stipels 1.5 mm;

petiolules 1.5 mm;

leaflets 5–15[–23], usually opposite, rarely alternate or alternate proximally and opposite distally, blades ovate-lanceolate, ovate-oblong, or lanceolate, 20–75(–100) × 10–35 mm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex usually acuminate, acute, rarely obtuse and mucronate, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.

2–10 cm;

stipules narrowly long-triangular, attenuate, 1–1.3 mm;

petiole 1–2 cm;

stipels absent;

petiolules 0.5 mm;

leaflets 3–7, opposite, blades ovate or elliptic, 4.5–19 × 2.5–16 mm, base cuneate, apex acute or broadly rounded, sometimes emarginate, mucronate, surfaces glabrate to appressed-pubescent adaxially, less so abaxially.
Racemes

8–15-flowered, lax, 7–8.5 cm.

20–40+-flowered, lax, 8–20 cm.
Peduncles

2–4 cm.

2–6 cm.
Pedicels

3 mm.

1–2 mm.
Flowers

12–18 mm;

calyx 2.5–3.5 mm, lobes triangular;

corolla usually light purple or pink, rarely white.

5–6 mm;

calyx 1.5–3.1 mm, lobes narrowly triangular;

corolla pink.
Legumes

brown, pendulous, cylindric, straight, 25–65(–80) mm, leathery, glabrous.

brown, strongly reflexed or spreading, cylindric, straight to slightly curved, 24–40 mm, papery, sparsely strigose.
Seeds

7 or 8, brown, ellipsoidal.

9 or 10, yellowish brown, cuboid.
2n

= 48.

= 16.

Indigofera decora

Indigofera oxycarpa
Phenology Flowering Apr–Nov. Flowering Oct–Mar.
Habitat Sunny margins of pine-mixed hardwood forests. Rocky coasts.
Elevation 150–200 m. (500–700 ft.) 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; Asia (China, Japan) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Pacific Islands (New Zealand)]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Central America; West Indies (Cuba, Jamaica); South America (Brazil)
Discussion

Indigofera decora is cultivated as an ornamental shrub in the United States and elsewhere (M. A. Dirr 2011). It is known in the flora area only from populations in Greene County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Indigofera oxycarpa is endangered in Florida, known only from Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties.

The nomenclature of Indigofera oxycarpa has a confusing history (A. W. Lievens 1992). The earliest name for the species, as treated here, is Galega frutescens Miller [Tephrosia frutescens (Miller) de Candolle]. Since the name I. frutescens is preoccupied, the name I. oxycarpa is the oldest available name for the species, if it is recognized as separate from Old World taxa. Indigofera mucronata Sprengel ex de Candolle is an illegitimate name sometimes used for this taxon. Sprengel published I. jamaicensis in 1826; P. S. White (1980) adopted this name in his treatment of the genus for the Flora of Panama. Lievens provided a complete synonymy.

R. D. Meikle (1950) discussed the similarities of these New World plants with Indigofera subulata Vahl ex Poiret, an African species, and I. scabra Roth, an Indian species, creating I. subulata var. scabra (Roth) Meikle, and placing the New World names I. mucronata and I. jamaicensis under it as synonyms. Subsequently, S. I. Ali (1958) placed I. subulata and all its varieties in synonymy under I. trita Linnaeus f., creating a new combination, I. trita var. scabra (Roth) Ali for the New World taxon, later placed as I. trita subsp. scabra (Roth) de Kort & G. Thijsse.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Indigofera Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Indigofera
Sibling taxa
I. caroliniana, I. colutea, I. hirsuta, I. kirilowii, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, I. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
I. caroliniana, I. colutea, I. decora, I. hirsuta, I. kirilowii, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
Synonyms Galega frutescens, I. jamaicensis, I. keyensis, I. laevis, I. macilenta, I. mucronata var. keyensis, I. rosei, I. trita var. keyensis, Tephrosia frutescens
Name authority Lindley: J. Hort. Soc. London 1: 68. (1846) Desvaux: J. Bot. Agric. 3: 79. (1814)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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