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kirilow's indigo

creeping indigo, trailing indigo

Habit Shrubs, pubescent, hairs sparse, appressed. Herbs, perennial, densely strigulose to glabrate, hairs appressed.
Stems

erect, arching, branched, 3–10 dm.

prostrate, often mat-forming, branching freely, 1–3 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.

1–7.5 cm;

stipules deltate to lanceolate, 5–7(–9) mm;

petiole 0.1–0.2 cm;

stipels absent or of a few hairs;

petiolules 1 mm;

leaflets 3–9, alternate, blades obovate to broadly oblanceolate, 5–30 × 2–18 mm, terminal leaflet usually larger than laterals, base cuneate, apex rounded to truncate, surfaces strigulose abaxially, glabrous adaxially.

Racemes

40–60+-flowered, dense, 7–8.5 cm.

20–40+-flowered, dense, 4–9 cm.

Peduncles

2–3 cm.

0.5–1 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.

6–8 mm;

calyx 2.5–4 mm, lobes subulate;

corolla pinkish salmon to pale carmine.

Legumes

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

brown, deflexed, cylindric, straight, 10–20 mm, leathery, strigulose.

Seeds

8–12, reddish brown, ellipsoidal.

4–9, greenish, cuboid.

2n

= 16.

= 16.

Indigofera kirilowii

Indigofera spicata

Phenology Flowering May–Oct. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Ruderal areas, edges of woods. Disturbed, ruderal areas, roadsides, lawns, hammocks, beaches.
Elevation 100–150 m. (300–500 ft.) 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TN; Asia (China, Japan, Korea) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; SC; Africa [Introduced also in Mexico, West Indies (Bahamas, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands), Central America, South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana), Pacific Islands (Hawaii), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Indigofera spicata has been confused with I. hendecaphylla Jacquin (sometimes spelled incorrectly as endecaphylla); distinctions between them were clarified by D. J. Du Puy et al. (1993) and A. S. Weakley et al (2018). The former is toxic to some grazing animals and has been linked to a fatal central nervous system syndrome in horses (J. F. Morton 1989).

(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. colutea, I. decora, I. hirsuta, I. kirilowii, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, I. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
Name authority Maximowicz ex Palibin: Trudy Glavn. Bot. Sada 17: 62, plate 4. (1898) Forsskål: Fl. Aegypt.-Arab., 138. (1775)
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