Flora of North America species comparison

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Indigofera oxycarpa

Indigofera colutea

Asian indigo, Florida keys indigo

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

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.

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

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.

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

20–40+-flowered, lax, 8–20 cm.

3–10-flowered, lax, 2.5–3.5 cm.
Peduncles

2–6 cm.

0.7–1.2 cm.
Pedicels

1–2 mm.

0.5–1 mm.
Flowers

5–6 mm;

calyx 1.5–3.1 mm, lobes narrowly triangular;

corolla pink.

2.5–3 mm;

calyx 1.5–1.9 mm, lobes subulate;

corolla reddish or salmon pink.
Legumes

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

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

9 or 10, yellowish brown, cuboid.

8–12, amber-brown, cuboid.
2n

= 16.

= 16.

Indigofera oxycarpa

Indigofera colutea
Phenology Flowering Oct–Mar. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Rocky coasts. Disturbed areas, roadsides, rocky areas, coastal sand.
Elevation 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Central America; West Indies (Cuba, Jamaica); South America (Brazil)
from FNA
FL; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies (Hispaniola, Jamaica), Pacific Islands, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

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. kirilowii, I. lindheimeriana, I. miniata, 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 frutescens, I. jamaicensis, I. keyensis, I. laevis, I. macilenta, I. mucronata var. keyensis, I. rosei, I. trita var. keyensis, Tephrosia frutescens Galega colutea, I. viscosa
Name authority Desvaux: J. Bot. Agric. 3: 79. (1814) (Burman f.) Merrill: Philipp. J. Sci. 19: 355. (1921)
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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