Indigofera helmsii Peter G.Wilson

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, opposite, not continuous with stem, 4-17 mm long, 1.5-5 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with incurved margins (conduplicate); margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Corolla multicoloured, mostly pink, red or purple, with some pink, red or purple spots, streaks or blotches. Stamens ten; filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 14-45 mm long, 2-2.3 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in July. Occurs in the Eremaean Botanical Province, in the Central Ranges IBRA regions.