92
Indigofera
longiracemosa Boiv. ex Baill.
Synonym : Indigofera tinctoria var. brachycarpa Vatke
Family
: Papilionoideae
Local Names
: Neelayamari,
Chaulmugra
Flowering
and fruiting period:
July – November
Distribution: Native of South
America; now widely cultivated in Asia and Africa
Habitat: River banks and wastelands, often grown as
medicinal plants
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: A decoction of the leaves is used as a
diuretic. The root has been used as an antidote for snake poisons. The plant is
used as a green manure. The leaves are used to produce the dye indigo. The
leaves and twigs do not actually contain indigo but colourless precursors that
must be extracted and then processed in order to produce the indigo dye.
Key
Characters:
Erect subshrubs; branchlets terete;
leaflets 7-9, opposite, obovate, odd one larger, 8-16 by 4-10 mm, base cuneate,
apex obtuse, mucronate, both surfaces appressed pubescent, membranous. Racemes
axillary, c. 2 cm long. Flowers dense;
