Indigofera melanosticta Peter G.Wilson & Rowe

Scientific Description

Twining or climbing plants, herb. Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, continuous with stem, 20-35 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 5-7, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 3-4 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 1.6-2 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Calyx 4.2-5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 6-10 mm long, multicoloured, mostly pink or purple, with some pink or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 8-9.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, keel 7-8 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen, 5-6 mm long. Ovary glabrous; style 6-7 mm long glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 18-20(-30) mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in May, June, July, August and September. Occurs in the Eremaean Botanical Province, in the Yalgoo IBRA regions.