Indigofera linifolia (L. fil.) Retz.

Annual, much branched, prostrate; branches pubescent, hairs appressed. Leaf simple, c. 1.2-2.6 cm long, c. 1.5-2.6 mm broad, linear, acute, mucronate, appressly pubescent on both sides; sessile to subsessile; stipules minute, setaceous. Inflorescence a sessile or shortly peduncled axillary raceme. Calyx c. 2.5-2.6 mm, pubescent, teeth linear, longer than the tube. Corolla bright red. Vexillum c. 5-8 mm long. Fruit c. 1.5-2.0 mm long, globose, apiculate, appressly pubescent, 1-seeded.

Arrica, W. Asia, Himalaya (Kashmir to Nepal, Bhutan), India, Ceylon, S.E. Asia, Malaysia, Australia, China.

Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Punjab); Azad Kashmir; Bangla Desh; India; Afghanistan; Ceylon; Burma; Indochina; Siam; Indonesia; New Guinea; Australia; China; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Sudan.

300-1300 m

Fl. Per.: July-October.

Indigofera linifolia, the narrowleaf indigo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is very widely distributed from Sudan eastwards to the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Malesia, New Guinea and Australia, and it has been introduced to Réunion and New Caledonia. Livestock can consume it as fodder, and in times of famine humans can grind and bake the seeds into a bread. It grows on dry slopes, grasslands, and riversides.