• Family : FABACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Faboideae
• Synonym(s) : Indigofera sumatrana Gaertn.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Indigofera tinctoria L.
• Common name : Common indigo, Madras indigo, Bengal Indigo, Black Henna, Dyers Indigo, East Asian Indigo Plant, Wild Indigo
• Vernacular name :
  • Nil (Hindi)
  • Neeli, Neele gida Olle neele (Kannada)
  • Avuri (Tamil)
  • Abiri, Auiri, Nili (Telugu)
  • Nili (Oria)
  • Amari, Neelayamari, Neelichedi, Nilam, Vellaamari (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Degraded forest areas and waste places
• Key identification features : Procumbent herb
• Flower, Fruit : August-January
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 13/12/2014
• Collection Nos : HJCB-E-197
• Collection Locality : Batrepalli, Nigidi forest, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar district
  • Karnataka : Bengaluru district, Ballari district, Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Kolar district, Mysuru district, Raichur district, Tumakuru district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Angul district, Balasore district, Bargarh district, Bolangir district, Boudh district, Cuttack district, Deogarh district, Dhenkanal district, Gajapati district, Ganjam district, Kalhandi district, Kandhamal district, Kendrapara district, Keonjhar district, Khurda district, Koraput district, Malkangiri district, Mayurbhanj district, Puri district, Rayagada district,Sambalpur district, Sundergarh district
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Dindigul district, Dharmapuri district, Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Karur district, Krishnagiri district, Madurai district, Namakkal district, Pudukkottai district, Sivaganga district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Vellore district
  • West Bengal : Bankura, Midnapur, 24-Parganas
  • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
  • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa 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
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
  • Kamble & Pradhan, 1988. Flora of Akola District, Maharashtra. Botanical Survey of India.
  • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 – Flora of Hassan District
  • Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi
  • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 – Flora of Bangalore District
  • Seetharam et al., 2000 – Flora of Gulbarga
  • Rao & Razi, 1981 - A Synoptic Flora of Mysore District
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi District
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
• Read more :
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Indigofera tinctoria. Downloaded on 27 July 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution