Indigofera hilaris

Indigofera hilaris, the red bush indigo or gay indigofera, is a species of leguminous shrublet in the genus Indigofera (family Fabaceae).[1]

Indigofera hilaris
Indigofera hilaris var. hilaris in Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Indigofera
Species:
I. hilaris
Binomial name
Indigofera hilaris
Synonyms
  • Indigofera hirta E.Mey. (1836)
  • Indigofera compacta N.E.Br. (1925)
  • Indigofera leipzigiae Bremek. (1933)

Etymology

The genus name Indigofera is Neo-Latin for "bearing indigo" (indigo is a purple dye originally obtained from some Indigofera species). Hilaris, from the Ancient Greek, means "cheerful, merry", referring to the bright, colourful display of the flowers.

Description
Flowering plants in recently burned grassland, Gauteng, South Africa

Indigofera hilaris is a perennial shrublet with erect annual stems up to 60 cm from a thick woody rootstock. Leaves are pinnate of 1–4 pairs of narrowly elliptical, silky, often folded leaflets, basal leaves get reduced, becoming scale-like. Stipules are 2–9 mm long, linear, stiffly erect. Inflorescences are a short-stalked densely-flowered 1.5–5 cm long racemes, scarcely longer than leaves. Flowers are reddish-pink to carmine, 7–8 mm long and about 6 mm in diameter. Pods are 10–30 mm long, cylindrical, straight. Flowers in July — December, especially after fire.[2][3]

Distribution

Indigofera hilaris grows in open grasslands through eastern South and tropical Africa in Tanzania, Zambia, Zaire, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North-West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape).[4][1]

References
  1. "Indigofera hilaris Eckl. & Zeyh". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  2. Plowes, D. C. H.; Drummond, R. B. (1990). Wild flowers of Zimbabwe: a guide to some of the common wild flowers of Zimbabwe. Longman Zimbabwe.
  3. Timberlake, J. R.; Martins, E. S. (2013). Flora Zambesiaca Volume 3 Part 4: Papilionoideae: Indigofereae. London: Published on behalf of the Governments of Portugal, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and the United Kingdom by the Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-1842464083.
  4. Manning, John C.. (2013). Field guide to wild flowers of South Africa. Cape Town: Random House Struik. p. 278. ISBN 9781920544874.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.