Indigofera

Indigofera is a large genus of about 700 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. They occur throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, with a few species reaching the temperate zone in eastern Asia.

The species are mostly shrubs, though some are herbaceous, and a few can become small trees up to 5-6 m tall; most are dry-season or winter deciduous. The leaves are pinnate with 5-31 leaflets, the terminal leaflet present; leaf size varies from 3-25 cm long. The flowers are small, produced on racemes 2-15 cm long.


USES
Several of them and especially Indigofera tinctoria and Indigofera suffruticosa are used to produce the dye indigo. Several species of this group are used to alleviate pain.


Selected species
Indigofera tinctoria bears the common name true indigo. The plant was one of the original sources of indigo dye. It has been naturalized to tropical and temperate Asia, as well as parts of Africa, but its native habitat is unknown since it has been in cultivation worldwide for many centuries. Today most dye is synthetic, but dye from I. tinctoria is still available, marketed as natural coloring. The plant is also widely grown as a soil-improving groundcover.
True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown. It has light green pinnate leaves and sheafs of pink or violet flowers. The plant is a legume, so it is rotated into fields to improve the soil in the same way that other legume crops such as alfalfa and beans are.
Dye is obtained from the processing of the plant's leaves. They are soaked in water and fermented in order to convert the glycoside indican naturally present in the plant to the blue dye indigotin. The precipitate from the fermented leaf solution is mixed with a strong base such as lye, pressed into cakes, dried, and powdered. The powder is then mixed with various other substances to produce different shades of blue and purple.

Indigofera nephrocarpoides is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family. It is found only in Yemen. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.

Indigofera marmorata. It is found only in Yemen. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

Indigofera sokotrana. It is found only in Yemen. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.

Indigofera rothii. It is found only in Ethiopia.

Indigofera vohemarensis

Indigofera monantha

Indigofera livingstoniana

Indigofera candolleana

Indigofera sessilifolia

Welwitschia

Welwitschia is a monotypic genus of gymnosperm plant, comprised solely of the very distinct Welwitschia mirabilis. It is the only genus of the family Welwitschiaceae, in the order Welwitschiales, in the division Gnetophyta. The plant is... more >>>

Acanthophoenix

Acanthophoenix is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family from the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean, where they are commonly called palmiste rouge. A genus long in flux, three species are currently recognized, however... more >>>

Halimodendron

Halimodendron is a monotypic genus of legume containing the single species Halimodendron halodendron, which is known by several common names, including common salt tree and Russian salt tree. It is native to Russia and southern Asia, but it... more >>>

Adansonia - Baobab

Baobab is the common name of a genus (Adansonia) containing eight species of trees, native to Madagascar (the centre of diversity, with six species), mainland Africa and Australia (one species in each). The mainland African species also occurs... more >>>

Odontonema

Odontonema is a genus of plant in family Acanthaceae.


Species
Odontonema laxum is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist... more >>>