Taxon:  Indigofera spicata Forssk.



Summary
Genus:
Indigofera
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Indigofereae
Nomen number:
20052
Place of publication:
Fl. aegypt.-arab. 138.  1775
Comment:
non Indigofera spicata auct., pro parte majore (= I. hendecaphylla Jacq.)
Verified:
09/17/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
12 (10  active, 10  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)
Seed

Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
  2. Berhaut, J. 1971-. Flore illustrée du Senegal.
  3. Boudet, G. et al. 1986. Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali
  4. Brunel, J. F. et al., eds. 1984. Flore analytique du Togo. Phanerogames
  5. Du Puy, D. J. et al. 1993. The separation of two previously confused species in the Indigofera spicata complex (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Kew Bull. 48:727-733.
  6. Du Puy, D. J. et al. 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar
  7. Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance
  8. Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1479.
  9. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  10. Gillett, J. B. 1958. Indigofera (Microcharis) in tropical Africa. Kew Bull. add. ser., 1:119.
  11. Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
  12. Huang, S. F. & T. C. Huang. 1987. Taxonomic treatment of the Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) of Taiwan. Taiwania 32:11-117.
  13. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  14. Kort, I. de & G. Thijsse. 1984. A revision of the genus Indigofera (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in Southeast Asia. Blumea 30:132.
  15. Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
  16. Lebrun, J.-P. et al. 1972. Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Tchad meridional
  17. Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
  18. Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
  19. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  20. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  21. Sanjappa, M. 1985. The genus Indigofera L. (Fabaceae-Papilionoideae) in Burma. Reinwardtia 10:235.
  22. Smith, A. C. 1979-1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
  23. Thulin, M. 1983. Leguminosae of Ethiopia. Opera Bot. 68:1-223.
  24. Troupin, G. 1978-. Flore du Rwanda.
  25. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  26. Verdcourt, B. 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes.
  27. Weakley, A. S. et al. 2018. New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States. III. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 20:27-67. Note: See page 45, all 70 accessions from SE U.S.A. labeled as Indigofera hendecaphylla represent instead toxic Indigofera spicata Forssk.
  28. Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
Englishcreeping indigo  1Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Germankriechender Indigostrauch  2Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1479.
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaKwaZulu-Natal Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaTransvaal Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBurkina Faso  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCentral African Republic  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMauritius  Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen s. 
4Naturalized    natzd. elsewhere 
Native
Africa
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Burkina Faso
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa [KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar, Mauritius
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Yemen (s.)
Naturalized (natzd. elsewhere)

Reference(s)
  1. Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
  2. Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=20052. Accessed 17 April 2026.