Indigofera trifoliata var. trifoliata

Chauhan, Vibha & Pandey, Arun K., 2015, A revision of trifoliolate Indigofera (Tribe Indigofereae: Fabaceae) in India, Phytotaxa 220 (1), pp. 1-29 : 22

10.1. var. trifoliata

Lectotype:— INDIA. Herb. Linnaeus 923.3 ( LINN!).

Designated by: Sanjappa in Turland & Jarvis (ed.), Taxon 46: 474 (1997)

Synonyms:— Anila trifoliata (L.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 940. 1891.

I. multicaulis DC., Prodr. 2: 223.1825.

I. trifoliata Linn , var. multicaulis (DC.) Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat. 1, 1: 313.1855;

I. peregrina DC. , 2: 224.1825

Lotus peregrinus auct. non Linn. 1753: Burm. f., Fl. Ind. 173.1768.

I. moluccana DC., Prodr. 2:223. 1825.

Vernacular names:— Ratimethi (Guj.), Janglimeti (Hindi), Diwalee, Lalmeti (Mar.), Baragadamu (Tel.).

Annual herb or subshrub, 20–75 cm high; branches erect or ascending, biramous hairs adpressed with both equally and unequal arms. Leaves digitately trifoliate; stipules 1–1.2 mm long, narrowly triangular, adnate to petiole, hairy outside; petioles 8–12 mm long, canaliculate above, hairy; stipeliae absent; petiolules 1–1.5 mm long, terminal petiolule c. 2 mm long; leafets 10–30 x 8–12 mm, obovate to obovate-oblong, sometimes linear, cuneate to obtuse at base, rounded to obtuse, sometimes emarginate at apex, biramous hairs slender, with unequal arms above, stout with equal arms beneath, brownish-orange gland-dotted beneath, Racemes 5–8 mm long, globose or slightly elongated; rachis pubescent, 6–20- flowered. Flowers pink or red, c. 5–6 mm long; bracts c. 0.6 mm long, hairy outside, caducous; pedicels c. 1 mm long, hairy. Calyx adpressed pubescent outside, Cup 0.8–1.2 mm long, teeth 1–2.5 x 0.5–1 mm, narrowly triangular. Standard 4–6x 3–5 mm, obovate, sometimes elliptic to somewhat orbicular, densely brown hairy and gland-dotted on the back; wing petals 3.5–5 x 1.2 mm, glabrous, ciliate along margins; keel petals 3.5–5.5 x 2–3 mm, densely brown hairy and gland-dotted outside, lateral spur 1–1.6 mm long. Staminal sheath 3.5–5 mm long, linear, glabrous or with few hairs on dorsal side, covered with glands towards tip, up to 7-ovuled; style 2–4 mm long, glabrous, glandular. Pods 10–20 x 2–4 mm, descending linear, tetragonous, apiculate, 5–7-seeded; sutures broadly winged (1–2.5 mm broad), sparsely adpressed white pubescent; endocarp smooth. Seeds 1–2 x 1–1.5 mm, ellipsoid, rounded, shiny, reddish-brown, sometimes mottled.

Phenology:— Fls. August–December; Frts. October–February

Distribution:— INDIA: Throughout; SRI LANKA, PAKISTAN, NEPAL, BHUTAN, BANGLADESH, MYANMAR, CHINA, THAILAND, VIETNAM, TAIWAN, MALESIA, NEW GUINEA, AUSTRALIA.

Habitat:— Road sides, cultivated fields, fallow lands, river banks and beds and hill slopes up to 1800 m.

Specimen examined:— Andhra Pradesh: Kurnool Dist., Nallamalais, Sunnipenta colony, 450 m., 21 October 1964, J. L. Ellis 22123 ( BSI) ; Ranga Reddy Dist., Hyderabad, Osmania University Campus , 15 September 1971, B. K. Vijayakumar 613 ; Karnataka: Shimoga , 2–300 m, October 1908, A. Meebold 9663 ; Maharashtra: Aurangabad Dist., Chowk , in cultivated fields, 21 October 1982, M. Sanjappa 9507 ( CAL) ; Aurangabad Dist., Chowka , 21 October 1982, M. Sanjappa 9507 ; Poona Dist., Vaikunthamenta , 10 September 1985, J. Tosh 865 ; Poona Dist. , 4 August 2013, J. S. Jalal 5002 ; Rajasthan: Bhilwar, on way to Bijolia , 30 September 1978, A. N. Singh 6071 ; Tamil Nadu: Ramanathapuram Dist., Sarthakoil, Devathanam , 400m, 11 December 1983, S. R. Srinivasan 79744 ( MH) ; North Arcot Dist., On the way to Jamnamarathur , Jawadi hills, 640m, 14 November 1985, M. B. Viswanathan 905 ( MH) .

Chr.No.:— 2n = 16 (Bhatt & Sanjappa 1975); n = 8 (Bir & Kumari 1973).

Pollen:— 3-zonocolporate, oblate-spheroidal, 35 x 31 (34–36 x 24–38) μm, granulate (Vishnu-Mittre & Sharma 1962).