Herbarium JCB

Tephrosia villosa (L.) Pers.

Family : FABACEAE
(PEA OR BEAN FAMILY)
Family (as per The Plant List) : Leguminosae
Subfamily : Faboideae
Species : Tephrosia villosa
Basionym : Cracca villosa L.
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Tephrosia villosa (L.) Pers.
Common name : Shaggy Wild Indigo
Vernacular name : Nugu vempali, Nogu vempali (Tel.); Banokulthia, Kulthia, Sroetokolathiya (Ori.); Barberia (San.)
Key identification features : A branched, densely hairy subshrub. Leaves are compound, alternate. Leaflets, with 11-19 pairs, lanceolate and retuse. Flowers are small, in terminal clusters. Fruit is a flattened, curved and hairy pod with 6-8 seeds.
Habit : Undershrub
Flower, Fruit : November-March
Native : India
Comments : Occasional in plains up to 600 m, in wastelands and in poor soil. Sometimes gregarious in disturbed ground.
Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
Distribution Locality : Kolar district (Karnataka State); Kanchipuram district, Tippukaadu R.F. (Tiruvannamalai district, former North Arcot), Tiruchirapalli district (Tamil Nadu State); Tirumala Hills (Chittoor district), Kalasamudram R.F. (Ananthapur district), Macherla R.F. (Guntur district), Kadapa district, West Godavari district, Srikakulam district (Andhra Pradesh State)
World Distribution : Pantropical
Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District ; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. ; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Tephrosia villosa. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.