Indigofera heterantha Wall. ex Brandis

Indigo du Cachemire (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Indigofera

Characteristics

Shrubs, 1-2(-3) m tall. Stems grayish brown, terete, with rounded lenticels, covered with appressed medifixed trichomes; young branches angular, with slightly spreading white medi­fixed symmetrically 2-branched trichomes. Stipules linear, ca. 3 mm, caducous, with appressed brown trichomes. Leaves 6-7 cm, (9-)13-25-foliolate; petiole and rachis adaxially grooved, with appressed medifixed trichomes; petiole 1-9 mm; stipels subulate, ca. 1 mm; petiolules ca. 1 mm; leaflet blades opposite, elliptic, obovate, or oblanceolate, 5-15(-25) × 2-10(-15) mm, papery, both surfaces with appressed white medifixed tri­chomes, midvein abaxially prominent and adaxially flat, sec­ondary veins not visible, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex obtuse to truncate and mucronate. Racemes 3-8 cm; peduncle (0.5-)1.4-2(-3) cm; young inflorescences in bud grayish green with few brownish hairs, rachis with dense appressed medifixed trichomes; bracts minute, caducous. Pedicel 1.5-3 mm, hairy, deflexed in fruit. Calyx 2.5-3.5(-4) mm, with appressed medi­fixed trichomes; tube ca. 1.5 mm; teeth triangular-lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 mm. Corolla purple to light purple; standard elliptic, 7.5-9(-13) × 4-5 mm, outside hairy; wings 7.5-10 mm, margin ciliate; keel 0.7-1.3 cm, outside apically hairy, margin ciliate, spur ca. 1 mm. Stamens (6-)7-11.5 mm; anthers ovoid-globose, base hairy. Ovary hairy, with 10 ovules. Legume brown, linear, cylindric, 1-1.5(-2) cm, glabrescent; endocarp purple blotched. Seeds 6-10 per legume, oblong, ca. 2.5 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 16, 32, 48.
More
A shrub. It loses its leaves during the year. The bark is brown. The leaves have short stalks. They have leaflets along the stalk and the leaflets are opposite. They end in a sharp tip and are somewhat leathery. They are covered with short white hairs above and grey underneath. The flowers are pink. They are in short stalked arrangements. There are 10-20 flowers in a group. The fruit is a pod. It is like a cylinder with a few scattered hairs. It has 10-12 seeds.
A shrub, strigose with grey adpressed hairs. Leaves imparipinnate, common petiole 1 1/2-2 1/2 in. long. Leaflets opposite, 6-15 pair, oblong, or elliptic-oblong, mucronate, less than 1/2 in. long. Stipules subulate, deciduous. Eacemes short-pedunculate, as long as leaves; bracts subulate, deciduous. Calyx cup-shaped, the teeth longer than, or as long as, tube. Pod spreading, straight cylindric, 1 1/4 in. long, shining, with a few scattered hairs.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 1.5 - 2.5
Mature height (meter) 1.8 - 2.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a temperate plant. In Nepal it grows between 600-3100 m altitude. It grows in open, moist places. It suits hardiness zones 7-10.
More
Dry sunny slopes, often forming dense scrub, and in forests; at elevations from 1,500-3,000 metres.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 1-6
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 7-10

Usage

The flowers are boiled and used as a vegetable and also pickled.
Uses environmental use fiber material medicinal wood
Edible flowers
Therapeutic use Antineoplastic agents (aerial part), Stomach diseases (flower), Toothache (flower), Wounds and injuries (flower), Abdominal pain (fruit), Asthma (leaf), Toothache (leaf), Wounds and injuries (leaf), Cough (root), Myalgia (root), Sprains and strains (root), Toothache (root), Urination disorders (root), Abdominal pain (seed), Antineoplastic agents (whole plant excluding root), Hypothermia (whole plant excluding root)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 90
Germination temperacture (C°) 10
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Flower

Indigofera heterantha flower picture by Bilal Bilal Ahmad Shiekh (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Indigofera heterantha world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa

Conservation status

Indigofera heterantha threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60473623-2
WFO ID wfo-0000186748
COL ID 3PM6V
BDTFX ID 26415
INPN ID 103584
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Indigofera heterantha Indigofera gerardiana Indigofera rubro-violacea Indigofera macrostachya Indigofera quadrangularis Indigofera roylei Indigofera macrostachys Indigofera gerardiana var. heterantha Indigofera heterantha var. gerardiana Indigofera himalayensis var. retusa