Indigofera suffruticosa |
Indigofera caroliniana |
|
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anil de pasto, Guatemalan indigo, indigobush |
Carolina indigo |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, strigose, hairs appressed, grayish silvery. | Herbs, perennial, herbaceous or suffrutescent, sparsely strigose, hairs appressed. |
Stems | erect or ascending, many stems from ground, much-branched distally, stems angled, 5–20 dm. |
erect or ascending, often bushy, branched, 7–15 dm. |
Leaves | 6–11 cm; stipules narrowly triangular, attenuate, 5–6 mm; petiole 10–20 mm; stipels 0.5–1.5 mm; petiolules 0.5–1.5 mm; leaflets 9–17, opposite, blades elliptic or oblanceolate, 15–20(–40) × 5–10(–15) mm, base cuneate, apex acute, mucronate, surfaces strigose, abaxially sometimes glabrate. |
2–8.5 cm; stipules narrowly triangular, 0.5–1 mm; petiole 0.5–1.3 cm; stipels 0.5–1 mm; petiolules 1–1.3 mm; leaflets (7 or)9–13, ± opposite, blades obovate to oblanceolate, 8–20(–25) × 2–12 mm, base cuneate, apex broadly acute or obtuse, mucronate, surfaces strigulose, pale abaxially. |
Racemes | 20–30+-flowered, dense, 3.5–5.5 cm. |
15–40-flowered, lax, 4–12 cm. |
Peduncles | 0.5 cm. |
1–2 cm. |
Pedicels | 1 mm. |
1–2(–3) mm. |
Flowers | 5–6 mm; calyx 1.5–2 mm, lobes deltate to lanceolate; corolla greenish yellow, orange, or purple-pink. |
6–9 mm; calyx 1.5–2 mm, lobes deltate; corolla dark pinkish buff to ochroleucous. |
Legumes | dark brown, reflexed, cylindric, strongly curved, 15–20 mm, leathery, base not bulbous or reddish, strigose to glabrate. |
dark brown, deflexed, ovoid or oblong, straight, 7–9 mm, woody, glabrate or sparsely strigulose. |
Seeds | 4–6, reddish brown, cuboid. |
2 or 3, yellowish tan, bluntly ellipsoidal. |
2n | = 16, 32. |
|
Indigofera suffruticosa |
Indigofera caroliniana |
|
Phenology | Flowering year-round. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Dry, sandy, open woodlands, along streams, abandoned fields, ruderal or agricultural areas. | Pinelands, pine-palmetto, scrub oak communities, sandhills, hammocks, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; Central America; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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AL; FL; GA; LA; NC; SC
|
Discussion | Indigofera suffruticosa is probably native to the New World tropics and subtropics. In the New World, it became a major source of blue dye. It was spread through cultivation to other regions of the world (P. C. Standley and J. A. Steyermark 1946). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Indigofera caroliniana Walter is an illegitimate later homonym that pertains here; the name by Walter is also the basis of Anila caroliniana. (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 | ||
Synonyms | I. anil | Anila caroliniana, I. disperma |
Name authority | Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Indigofera no. 2. (1768) | Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Indigofera no. 3. (1768) |
Web links |