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anil de pasto, Guatemalan indigo, indigobush

Lindheimer's indigo

Habit Herbs, perennial, strigose, hairs appressed, grayish silvery. Herbs, perennial, suffrutescent, cinereous-pubescent, hairs silvery greenish, appressed or ascending.
Stems

erect or ascending, many stems from ground, much-branched distally, stems angled, 5–20 dm.

erect, several from rootstock, sparsely branched distally, 5–15 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.

8.5–10.5 cm;

stipules sometimes clusters of hairs, 0.5–2 mm;

petiole 1–1.5 cm;

stipels 0.5–1 mm;

petiolules 0.5–1 mm;

leaflets 7–15, opposite, blades obovate, narrowly or broadly oblanceolate, or elliptic, 8–16 × 4–8 mm, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse, apiculate, surfaces densely pubescent.

Racemes

20–30+-flowered, dense, 3.5–5.5 cm.

8–30+-flowered, lax, 5–12 cm.

Peduncles

0.5 cm.

0.8–1.2 cm.

Pedicels

1 mm.

1 mm.

Flowers

5–6 mm;

calyx 1.5–2 mm, lobes deltate to lanceolate;

corolla greenish yellow, orange, or purple-pink.

6–8 mm;

calyx 1.5–2 mm, lobes narrowly triangular;

corolla reddish.

Legumes

dark brown, reflexed, cylindric, strongly curved, 15–20 mm, leathery, base not bulbous or reddish, strigose to glabrate.

brown, divergent or reflexed, cylindric, straight or slightly curved to falcate, 18–25 mm, leathery, base bulbous and reddish, cinereous-pubescent.

Seeds

4–6, reddish brown, cuboid.

4–6, brown, cuboid.

2n

= 16, 32.

= 16.

Indigofera suffruticosa

Indigofera lindheimeriana

Phenology Flowering year-round. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Dry, sandy, open woodlands, along streams, abandoned fields, ruderal or agricultural areas. River and creek bottoms or banks, dry beds, limestone, roadsides.
Elevation 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León)
[BONAP county map]
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 lindheimeriana is found in the flora area in southwest Texas, from its eastern extent in Comal and Llano counties west to Brewster and Terrell 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. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. texana, I. tinctoria
I. caroliniana, I. colutea, I. decora, I. hirsuta, I. kirilowii, I. miniata, I. oxycarpa, I. pilosa, I. sphaerocarpa, I. spicata, I. suffruticosa, I. texana, I. tinctoria
Synonyms I. anil Anila lindheimeriana
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Indigofera no. 2. (1768) Scheele: Linnaea 21: 464. (1848)
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