Indigofera oblongifolia (PROSEA)
Introduction |
Indigofera oblongifolia Forssk.
- Protologue: Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 137 (1775).
Synonyms
Indigofera paucifolia Delile (1813).
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: tom (Javanese).
Distribution
From tropical Africa to northern India and Sri Lanka, and Java (probably introduced).
Uses
The plant is reported as an antisyphilitic. In the traditional Ayurvedic system the root is considered cooling, improving the appetite and a remedy for rheumatism. All parts of the plant are considered useful in enlargements of the liver and spleen. The leaf is a vulnerary, and it is used to treat dysentery. In Yemen the leaves are traditionally used for urinary infections, urolithiasis and skin infections. In East Africa the root is boiled with milk and used as purgative; a decoction of the stem is applied as a gargle. In India I. oblongifolia is planted as a green manure in wet lands, and recommended as a fodder for sheep.
Observations
A small shrub up to 180 cm tall; leaflets 1-5, alternate, sometimes almost opposite, obovate to narrowly obovate, the terminal one 1.6-4 cm × 0.5-1 cm, the lateral ones 1.2 cm × 0.4-0.8 cm; inflorescence 1.5-8 cm long; calyx up to 2 mm long, standard orbicular, 4 mm long, greenish-yellow with red streaks, wings and keel shorter and elliptical; fruit slightly curved, constricted between the seeds, rounded in cross-section, 10-20 mm × 2 mm, hairy, (3-)7-9-seeded, endocarp blotched; seeds broadly elliptical, 2 mm × 1 mm. I. oblongifolia occurs in grassland and along roadsides, especially along the coast below 100 m altitude.
Selected sources
59, 62, 121, 181, 198, 944.
Main genus page
Authors
Sudibyo Supardi & Hurip Pratomo