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Taxon:  Indigofera tinctoria L.



Summary
Genus:
Indigofera
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Indigofereae
Nomen number:
20064
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:751. 1753
Verified:
09/17/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
16 (16  active, 7  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Indigofera tinctoria L. var. arcuata J. B. Gillett (0 active accession[s])
Indigofera tinctoria L. var. tinctoria (7 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Indigofera argentea L.
Indigofera sumatrana Gaertn.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Arechavaleta, M. et al., eds. Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2005
  3. Aubréville, A. et al., eds. Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viet-Nam. 1960-
  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae. 1959-
  5. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  6. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  7. Encke, F. et al. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. 1984
  8. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
  9. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  10. Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. Flora of Ethiopia. 1989- (and Eritrea. 2000)
  11. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
  12. Howard, R. Flora of the lesser Antilles. 1974-1989
  13. Huang, S. F. & T. C. Huang. Taxonomic treatment of the Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) of Taiwan. Taiwania 32:11-117. 1987
  14. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  15. Iwatsuki, K. et al. Flora of Japan. 1993-
  16. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. 1953-1972
  17. Kort, I. de & G. Thijsse. 1984. A revision of the genus Indigofera (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in Southeast Asia. Blumea 30:136.
  18. Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist. 2003
  19. Lemmens, R. H. M. J. & N. Wulijarni-Soetjipto, eds. 1991. Dye and tannin-producing plants. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 3:81-83.
  20. Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist. 1994
  21. Lock, J. M. & K. Simpson. Legumes of West Asia: a checklist. 1991
  22. Lock, J. M. Legumes of Africa: a checklist. 1989
  23. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  24. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  25. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. Flora of [West] Pakistan. 1970-
  26. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  27. Raju, M. S. 1936. Studies on the bacterial-plant groups of cowpea, Cicer and dhaincha. I. Classification. Centralbl. Bakteriol., 2. Abth. 94:249-262.
  28. Sanjappa, M. 1995. Leguminosae - Papilionoideae tribe Indigoferae. Fascicles of flora of India. 1978- 21:133-137.
  29. Thulin, M., ed. Flora of Somalia. 1993-
  30. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. Flora of tropical East Africa. 1952-
  31. Verdcourt, B. A manual of New Guinea legumes. 1979
  32. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  33. Wood, J. R. I. A handbook of the flora of Yemen. 1997
  34. PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Common names
English
dye indigo –
Indian indigo –
indigo –
German
Indigostrauch –
Japanese Rōmaji
nanban-ai –
Swedish
indigo –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaCape Verde  
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaChad  
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia  
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan  
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaYemenSocotra 
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBenin  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaCote D'Ivoire  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGambia  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea-Bissau  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaMali  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNiger  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSenegal  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaTogo  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCentral African Republic  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaGabon  
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaSao Tome and Principe  
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaAnhui 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaHainan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaTaiwan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentBangladesh  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaAndhra Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaArunachal Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaAssam 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaBihar 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaDadra and N. Haveli 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaDaman and Diu 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaDelhi 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaGoa 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaGujarat 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaHaryana 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaHimachal Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaJammu and Kashmir 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaKarnataka 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaKerala 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMadhya Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMaharashtra 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaManipur 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMeghalaya 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMizoram 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaNagaland 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaOrissa 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaPondicherry 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaPunjab 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaRajasthan 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaSikkim 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaTamil Nadu 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaTripura 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaUttar Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaWest Bengal 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaCambodia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaMyanmar  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaThailand  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaVietnam  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaMalaysia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaPapua New Guinea  
1NativeAsia-TropicalNorth Indian OceanMaldives  
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaNorthern Territory 
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaQueensland 
2Cultivated     
4Naturalized     
6Other     
Native
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • MACARONESIA: Cape Verde
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Yemen [Socotra]
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Yemen
  • CHINA: China [Anhui, Hainan]
  • EASTERN ASIA: Taiwan
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, India [Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Delhi, Goa, Mizoram, Dadra and N. Haveli, Daman and Diu, Pondicherry, Arunachal Pradesh], Sri Lanka, Pakistan
  • INDO-CHINA: Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
  • MALESIA: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea
  • NORTH INDIAN OCEAN: Maldives
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia [Northern Territory, Queensland]
Cultivated ()
Naturalized ()
Other ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalsoil improver Gillett, J. B. 1958. Indigofera (Microcharis) in tropical Africa. Kew Bull. add. ser., 1:101.
Materialstannin/dyestuff Lemmens, R. H. M. J. & N. Wulijarni-Soetjipto, eds. 1991. Dye and tannin-producing plants. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 3:81-83.
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=20064. Accessed 18 July 2025.


GRIN-Global project