Indigofera emarginella Steud. ex A.Rich.

Papilionaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958

Morphology General Habit

Woody undershrub up to 5 ft. high

Ecology

Rarely below 3, 000 ft. alt.

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation

Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit

Softly woody shrub up to 2 m. tall; stems ribbed, minutely brown strigulose or puberulent, usually ascending, almost unbranched from a perennial base at ground level.

Morphology Leaves

Stipules triangular, ± 2 mm. long; rhachis brown strigulose or puberulent, up to 8 cm. long, including a petiole of up to 10 or 15 mm., prolonged up to 9 mm. beyond lateral leaflets; stipellae filiform, caducous, 1.5 mm. long; petiolules blackish strigulose or puberulent, 2–3 mm. long; leaflets 7–11 or rarely 5, coriaceous, elliptic-oblong, often emarginate, up to 2 cm. long and 16 mm. wide, or rarely up to 4.5 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, strigulose on both surfaces, the hairs brown and ± spreading on the nerves beneath.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Racemes almost sessile, densely blackish brown strigulose, many-flowered, up to ± 7 cm. long; bracts lanceolate-acuminate, up to 3 mm. long, caducous; pedicels ± 1 mm. long, strongly reflexed in fruit.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx densely brown, or rarely white, strigulose, ± 1.5 mm. long; lobes broadly triangular, the upper almost obsolete, shorter than the tube.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla densely golden-brown strigulose outside; standard persistent after the other petals have fallen, sometimes until the fruit is ripe.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens

Stamens 5–6 mm. long.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Pod straight, subcylindrical, pointed, 15–22 mm. long, ± 2 mm. wide and 1.9 mm. thick, brown strigulose; endocarp spotted.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds 4–5, well separated.

Figures

Fig. 43/6, p. 293.

Habitat

Grassland, Brachystegia woodland and forest margins; 500–2250 m.; rainfall 750–1600 mm.

Distribution

K3 K5 T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 U1 U2 U3 U4