Flora of North America species comparison

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Indigofera spicata

creeping indigo, trailing indigo
Habit Herbs, perennial, densely strigulose to glabrate, hairs appressed.
Stems

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

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

20–40+-flowered, dense, 4–9 cm.
Peduncles

0.5–1 cm.
Pedicels

0.5–1 mm.
Flowers

6–8 mm;

calyx 2.5–4 mm, lobes subulate;

corolla pinkish salmon to pale carmine.
Legumes

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

4–9, greenish, cuboid.
2n

= 16.

Indigofera spicata
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Disturbed, ruderal areas, roadsides, lawns, hammocks, beaches.
Elevation 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
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 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.
Parent taxa 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. sphaerocarpa, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
Name authority Forsskål: Fl. Aegypt.-Arab., 138. (1775)
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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