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Fabaceae FAMILY

Indigofera linnaei

Indigofera linnaei

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant is the cause of a horse disease known in Australia as 'Birdsville disease' but sheep and cattle can eat it apparently without any harmful results[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitShrub
Growth—

Indigofera species generally grow best in a sunny position, preferring a well-drained but moist soil[2]. Many of the species will also succeed in drier conditions and in poor soils. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Propagation

Like many species within the family Fabaceae, once they have been dried for storage the seeds of this species may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing[PFAF]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Indigofera+linnaei>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]A Revision of the Genus Indigofera (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in Southeast Asia — Kort I. de, Thijsse G. · 1984 ↩︎
  2. [2]Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants - Identification and Cultivation of over 3,000 Tropical Plants — Ahmed Fayaz · Firefly Books Ltd.; New Zealand · 2011 · ISBN 978-1-55407-489 ↩︎A good photograph and terse but detailed information for over 3,000 species of tropical plants. An excellent reference.
  3. [3]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  4. [4]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  5. [5]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  6. [6]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  7. [7]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [8]Ethnomedicinal Uses of Plants in the Plains Area of the Tirunelveli-District, Tamilnadu, India — Vanila, D., Ghanthikumar, S. and Manickam, V.S. · 2008 ↩︎
  9. [9]Indian Medicinal Planta — Kirkitar K.R.; Basu B.D. & Indian Civil Service · Sudhindra Nath Basu, BahadurGanj; India · 1918 ↩︎
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎