Indigofera

Authority

Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

Family

Fabaceae

Scientific Name

Indigofera

Description

Genus Description - Herbs or shrubs. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets 3 to several, opposite or alternate; stipules minute, persistent; stipels minute. Flowers small, in axillary racemes or spikes, not clustered, the bracts minute; calyx cup-shaped with 5 minute, subequal teeth at apex; corolla pink or red, the standard rounded or obovate, narrowed at base, the wings as long as the keel, adherent to the keel petal; stamens 10, diadelphous, the anthers glandular at apex; ovary sessile, with 1 to many ovules, the style inflexed, the stigma capitate. Legume cylindrical, flattened, or 4-angular, linear, often curved, with septa between seeds, dehiscent; seeds rounded, ellipsoid, or angular.

Distribution and Ecology - A genus of 700 species, of warm temperate zones.