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Sonoran indigo, Sonoran indigobush

rusty indigo

Habit Shrubs or subshrubs (woody), strigose, hairs appressed. Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, pubescent, hairs long, simple, erect, spreading, glandular, intermixed with appressed hairs.
Stems

erect, diffusely branched, 3–15 dm.

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

Leaves

2.5–9 cm;

stipules linear-triangular, 1–2 mm;

petiole 0.3–1.5 cm;

stipels 0.5 mm;

petiolules 1.3 mm;

leaflets 13–19, opposite, blades elliptic to obovate-oblong, sometimes folded, 20–30 × 2–5 mm, base cuneate, apex broadly rounded or truncate, mucronate, surfaces strigose and pale abaxially, glabrate adaxially.

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

20–35+-flowered, lax, 2.5–11 cm.

3–10-flowered, lax, 2.5–3.5 cm.

Peduncles

0.8–1.2 cm.

0.7–1.2 cm.

Pedicels

1–2 mm.

0.5–1 mm.

Flowers

4.5–5.2 mm;

calyx 1.5–2 mm, lobes broadly triangular;

corolla orange-mauve or pinkish.

2.5–3 mm;

calyx 1.5–1.9 mm, lobes subulate;

corolla reddish or salmon pink.

Legumes

brown, divergent or deflexed, ellipsoidal, straight, 3–3.5 mm, leathery, glabrate.

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

Seed(s)

1, brown, bluntly ellipsoidal.

8–12, amber-brown, cuboid.

2n

= 16.

Indigofera sphaerocarpa

Indigofera colutea

Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Dry, rocky slopes, with grasses, oaks. Disturbed areas, roadsides, rocky areas, coastal sand.
Elevation 1000–1800 m. (3300–5900 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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 sphaerocarpa is known in the flora area from Cochise, Graham, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, Arizona, and Hidalgo County, New Mexico. A single specimen from the Joshua Tree National Monument, Riverside County, California, was collected in 1973 (Smith & Sawyer 6890, HSC).

(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. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, 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 Amorpha ovalis, Anila sphaerocarpa Galega colutea, I. viscosa
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 37. (1853) (Burman f.) Merrill: Philipp. J. Sci. 19: 355. (1921)
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