Indigofera trita L.f.
Eng.: Indigo. Spa.: Índigo. Fre.: Indigotier.
Shrub 0.4-1.2 m in height, covered by dense and very rigid hairs. Stems erect, usually highly branched. Leaves opposite, trifoliolate, with petiole 0.5-1 cm and leaflets 0.6-1.5 × 0.3-0.7 cm, petiolulate (petiolules 2-5 mm), from obovate-cuneate to elliptic, obtuse, truncated or emarginate, with prominent midrib on the underside, glabrous on the upper side and pubescent on the underside. Inflorescences in racemes with many flowers, usually much longer than the axillary leaf. Calyx c. 2 mm, with subulate teeth of the same length as the tube, densely pubescent. Corolla c. 5 mm, papilionoid, pinkish or white-reddish. Androecium monadelphous. Pod 2.5-4 × 0.15 cm, somewhat curved, sparsely lomentaceous, somewhat pubescent, with 8-12 seeds.
Flowering:
No data for this region
Fruiting:
No data for this region
Habitat:
On very varied terrains and bioclimates but always in tropical and subtropical areas more or less dry and even desertic. In North Africa, in plains and mid-mountains of savannahs and deserts.
Distribution:
Tropical Africa, south-central Asia, reaching the Philippines and Australia towards the E. In North Africa it is found in the Sahel, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, reaching towards the N up to the Sudanese mountains near the Red Sea and SE Egypt. Its northern limit appears to be the Jebel Elba, where the subsp. subulata (Vahl. ex Poir.) Ali is found.
Conservation status:
A relatively common and widespread species, not considered threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Chadburn, 2012).