Fabaceae
Indigofera

Indigofera suffruticosa Mill.

First published in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 2 (1768)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical America. It is a perennial, subshrub or shrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is used to treat unspecified medicinal disorders, has environmental uses, as a poison and a medicine and for food.

Descriptions

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Vernacular
WILD INDIGO
Morphology General Habit
A stiff, shrubby herb up to 1.5 m tall but usually lower, finely white-strigillose throughout; leaves with 9–15 leaflets, these elliptic or oval, 1.5–3 cm long, mucronate at the apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes shorter than the leaves; calyx ca. 1.5 mm long; corolla salmon-red, 5–6 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods numerous and densely crowded, 1.5–2 cm long, strongly curved, 2 mm thick.
Distribution
Grand Cayman. West Indies and continental tropical America.
Ecology
Often a weed of sandy waste ground or along roadsides; naturalised in the Old World tropics.
[Cayman]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Nativa en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 2700 m.; Andes, Llanura del Caribe, Orinoquia, Pacífico, Valle del Magdalena.
Morphology General Habit
Subarbusto
Conservation
Preocupación Menor
[CPLC]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
anilina, añil, añil silvestre, añilina, curí, guarrás, planta de guineíto, platanito, raíz colorada
[UNAL]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb/Shrub
Vernacular
Aika, Akouveli, Anil, Anil De Piedra, Anil Indigo, Azul, Azul De Hoja, Azulejo, Bengal Indigo, Ceylon Indigo, Digo, Digo Sauvage, Engilavy, Engitra, Guatemala Indigo, Hengitra, Hojas Azules, Indigo, Indigo Plant, Indigo Sauvage, Indigotier, Indigotier Sau
[ILDIS]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

Ecology
Alt. 0 - 2700 m.
Conservation
Least concern.
Distribution
Native from Colombia.
Morphology General Habit
Subshrub.
Vernacular
Wara atsu.
[UPB]

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

Morphology General Habit
A branched undershrub up to 6 ft. high
Note
Formerly much cultivated, probably not indigenous.
[FWTA]

Distribution
Biogeografic region: Andean, Caribbean, Orinoquia, Pacific. Elevation range: 0–2700 m a.s.l. Native to Colombia. Colombian departments: Amazonas, Antioquia, Atlántico, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caquetá, Casanare, Cauca, Chocó, Cundinamarca, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Norte de Santander, Quindío, San Andrés y Providencia, Santander, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vichada.
Conservation
National Red List of Colombia (2021): Potential LC.
Habit
Subshrub.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, savanna, shrubland, native grassland, wetlands (inland), artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Añil, Añil indigo, Curí, Wara atsu
[UPFC]

Uses

Use
This plant was formerly much cultivated, especially in C. America, as the chief source of the blue dye known as indigo, a colour supplanted in modern times by synthetic substitutes.
[Cayman]

Use
Chemical products, Domestic, Environmental, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Toxins, Weed
[ILDIS]

Use Materials
Materials (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Materials Tannins/Dyestuffs
Used as a colorant (Tapasco et al. 2015).
Use Materials Unspecified Materials Chemicals
Materials (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Medicines Unspecified Medicinal Disorders
Medicinal (State of the World's Plants 2016, Instituto Humboldt 2014).
[UPB]

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
Use Poisons
Poisons.
[UPFC]

Common Names

Spanish
Añil, añil indigo, curí.

Sources

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/