Bark
Smooth, greyish-green to light brown bark covering slender, woody, copiously-branched stems that are often coated in tiny, fine silver hairs.
Indigofera tinctoria
Syn. Indigofera sumatrana
IUCN Red List
Least Concern
(LC)
Local name
- True Indigo (English)
- Nilika (Hindi)
- Gandhapushpa (Sanskrit)
Shrub type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Fabaceae
1.5m
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Pinnately compound leaves (5–10 cm long) composed of 9 to 13 oval, opposite leaflets that feature a smooth, pale-green undersurface.
Flower
Small, butterfly-like pink or reddish-orange flowers clustered heavily along narrow, multi-flowered spikes (racemes) rising from the leaf axils.
Fruit / Seeds
Slender, linear, cylindrical pods (2.5–3 cm long) that are sharply deflexed (pointing downwards), enclosing 5 to 12 tiny, cubic seeds.
Did you know?
Before synthetic dyes were developed, natural indigo was a valuable global commodity traded across major trade routes. Its dye and dyed textiles were prized for their rich blue colour and commercial value.
Distribution
W. Tropical Africa, Tanzania to S. Africa, Indian Subcontinent to Indo-China