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kirilow's indigo

rusty indigo

Habit Shrubs, pubescent, hairs sparse, appressed. Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, pubescent, hairs long, simple, erect, spreading, glandular, intermixed with appressed hairs.
Stems

erect, arching, branched, 3–10 dm.

ascending and spreading or prostrate, branched, 3–30 dm.

Leaves

6–15 cm;

stipules narrowly long-triangular, attenuate, 4–6 mm;

petiole 0.1–2.5(–3) cm;

stipels 2–3 mm;

petiolules 2–2.5 mm;

leaflets (5 or)7–11, opposite, blades broadly ovate, ovate-rhombic, or elliptic, 15–40(–50) × 10–23(–30) mm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex rounded to acute, surfaces appressed-pubescent, pale abaxially.

1.5–4.5 cm;

stipules narrowly linear, 2.5–3.5 mm;

petiole 1–1.5 cm;

stipels of brown hairs;

petiolules 0.5 mm;

leaflets 5–11, sometimes subopposite or alternate proximally, opposite distally, blades elliptic or obovate, 7–14 × 3–4 mm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex broadly acute or obtuse, apiculate, surfaces pubescent, hairs erect, spreading, and appressed.

Racemes

40–60+-flowered, dense, 7–8.5 cm.

3–10-flowered, lax, 2.5–3.5 cm.

Peduncles

2–3 cm.

0.7–1.2 cm.

Pedicels

3–5 mm, glabrous.

0.5–1 mm.

Flowers

12–14(–18) mm;

calyx 2.5–4 mm, lobes triangular;

corolla usually pink, rarely white.

2.5–3 mm;

calyx 1.5–1.9 mm, lobes subulate;

corolla reddish or salmon pink.

Legumes

brown, deflexed, cylindric, straight, 35–70 mm, leathery, glabrous.

brown, spreading, slightly deflexed, or slightly ascending, cylindric, straight, 18–26 mm, papery, pubescent.

Seeds

8–12, reddish brown, ellipsoidal.

8–12, amber-brown, cuboid.

2n

= 16.

= 16.

Indigofera kirilowii

Indigofera colutea

Phenology Flowering May–Oct. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Ruderal areas, edges of woods. Disturbed areas, roadsides, rocky areas, coastal sand.
Elevation 100–150 m. (300–500 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TN; Asia (China, Japan, Korea) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies (Hispaniola, Jamaica), Pacific Islands, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Indigofera kirilowii has been in cultivation in the United States since about 1899 (A. J. Rehder 1940). It is known in the flora area only from Madison County.

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

In the flora area, Indigofera colutea is known only from Hillsborough, Manatee, and Polk counties.

(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. decora, I. hirsuta, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, I. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
I. caroliniana, I. decora, I. hirsuta, I. kirilowii, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, I. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
Synonyms Galega colutea, I. viscosa
Name authority Maximowicz ex Palibin: Trudy Glavn. Bot. Sada 17: 62, plate 4. (1898) (Burman f.) Merrill: Philipp. J. Sci. 19: 355. (1921)
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