Indigofera cordifolia Roth

Western desert (Giza Pyramids).

Egypt, Mauritania, Cape Verde Islands, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Socotra, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, north Australia.

Prostrate annual, branched, stem pubescent. Leaf simple, c. 6-16 mm long, c. 4-13 mm broad, subsessile, broadly ovate, cordate, obtuse, mucronate, pubescent on both sides; stipules minute, setaceous. Inflorescence a subsessile, 4-8-flowered head. Calyx c. 3-3.5 mm long, pubescent externally, tube very short, teeth linear, densely pubescent. Corolla bright red, shorter than calyx. Fruit c. 4-5 mm long, oblong, densely pubescent, 2-seeded, rarely 1-seeded; seeds pitted, inner side of the pericarp dotted.

Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Punjab, Baluchistan); Afghanistan; India; Indonesia (Timor) ; Australia (N. Australia); Ethiopia; Eritrea; Sudan; W. Tropical Africa.

Fl.Per.: August-October.

Indigofera cordifolia, the heart-leaf indigo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found from the Cape Verde Islands, across the Sahel to Oman, the Indian Subcontinent, Guangdong in China, and some of the islands of Indonesia, and it has been introduced to the Northern Territory of Australia. A glycophyte adapted to sandy soils, it is considered a weed in some situations, but can also improve crop yields due to its nitrogen-fixing ability.

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