Roughhairy Indigo

Indigofera hirsuta L Sp. PI. 751. 17.S.V
Indigofera ferruginca Solium. & Thonn. Guin. PI. 370. 1S27. Indigofera fusca G. Don, Gen. Hist. 2: 211. 1832. Anila hirsuta Kuntze. Rev. Gen. 160. 1891.
An annual or biennial; stem 5-12 dm. high, brown, villous-hirsute with browh hairs; stipules subulate-setaceous, 5-10 mm. long, villous; leaves 1-1.5 dm. long, the rachis and petiole villous: leaflets 5-11, membranous, loosely pubescent on both sides, gray-green beneath, obovate, 2-3.5 cm. long; spikes longer than the leaves, rather densely many-flowered; bracts subulate-setaceous; pod with rather strong sutures, about 2 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, 6-8-seeded; seeds 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, slightly pitted.
Type locality: India.
Distribution; St. Vincent; also in Guiana and Brazil; naturalized from the tropics of the Old World.

Annual, Perennial, Shrubs, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or you ng twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Stems hairs pilose or spreading, Stems with 2-branched hairs, dolabriform, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 5-9, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals pinkish to rose, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel abruptly curved, or spirally coiled, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments g labrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit inflated or turgid, Fruit internally septate between the seeds, Fruit hairy, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Indigofera hirsuta, the hairy indigo or rough hairy indigo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to nearly all the world's tropics; South America, Africa, Madagascar, the Indian Subcontinent, southern China, southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia and Australia, and has been introduced to the Caribbean, the southeast United States, Mexico and Central America. It is used as a green manure and, to a minor extent, for forage.