Common Tephrosia
Tephrosia purpurea
Also known as Wild Indigo
About Common Tephrosia
Tephrosia purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It grows in poor soils as a common wasteland weed and has a pantropical distribution. It is a type of legume native to south-western Asia (the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Iran, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka) and north-eastern Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia). The leaflets of the plant are obovate-oblong and equal-sided, and of a silky texture. The fruits (legumes) are typically 1 to 2 in (25 to 51 mm) long and contain six or seven brownish seeds. The species typically grows in areas where the soils are relatively deep, especially in semi-arid and wadi areas, and on terraces and slight inclines and hills.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Tephrosia purpurea
- Genus
- Tephrosia
- Family
- FABACEAE
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous forests and grasslands, also in the plains and waste places
- Distribution
- Himalayas, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, South Africa, Bhutan, Australia; Introduced in Tropical America
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- Sarphonk सरफोंक, शरपुंखा Sharpunkha
- Nepali
- काँडे साखिनु Kaande Saakhinu
- Bengali
- বননীলগাছ Bannilgach
- Tamil
- காவாளி kavali, கொள்ளுக்காய்வேளை kolluk-kay-velai, Kawati
- Telugu
- వెంపలి
- Kannada
- ಎಂಪಲಿ Empali, ಕೊಗ್ಗಿ Koggi, ಕೊಗ್ಗಿಲಿ Koggili
- Malayalam
- Kozhinjil, കൊഴിഞ്ഞിൽ
- Marathi
- शरपुंखा sharpankha, उन्हाळी unhali, उन्हाळी
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Common Tephrosia belongs to the Fabaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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