var. trita

Chauhan, Vibha & Pandey, Arun K., 2015, A revision of trifoliolate Indigofera (Tribe Indigofereae: Fabaceae) in India, Phytotaxa 220 (1), pp. 1-29 : 24-26

11.1 var. trita

Type:— INDIA. Herb. Linnaeus 923.9 ( LINN!).

Synonyms:— Anila trita ( L. f.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 940. 1841.

I. hedysaroides Lam., Encycl. 3: 250. 1789.

I. canescens Lam., Encycl. 3: 251.1789.

I. cinerea Willd., Sp. Pl. 3: 1225.1802.

I. arcuata Willd., Sp. Pl. 3:1228.1802.

I. rigida Willd., Enum. Hort. Berol. 2: 780.1809.

I. leschenaultii DC., Prodr. 2: 223.1825.

I. timoriensis DC. Prodr. 2: 223. 1825.

I. armata Wall. Cat. 5453.

I. argentea Wall. Cat. 5455.

I. ternata Roxb. ex Wight & Arn. 204. 1834 in herb. Smith (1789).

Vernacular names:— Vikharia (Guj.), Tore menti (Kan.), Kandaram, Punalmurangi, Saubanjam (Tam.), Nakanaru, Verri neeli (Tel.).

Erect, woody herb or shrublet, 30–200 cm high; branches erect to horizontal, pinkish to light green, coarsely strigose, biramous hairs, short, white adpressed with equal arms. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate; stipules 1–2 x 0.3–0.5 mm, narrowly triangular, hairy outside; petioles 1–2.5 cm long, canaliculate above, hairy; rachis 5–12 mm long; stipellae absent; petiolules 1–1.5 mm long; leaflets 3, very rarely 5, opposite, (8–) 10–35 (–45) x (5–) 8–20 (–30) mm, elliptic sometimes obovate, obtuse to cuneate or rounded at base, obtuse to rounded or sometimes emarginate and mucronate at apex, adpressed pubescent on both surfaces, sometimes glabrous above especially when the leaflets are small. Racemes 1.5–4.5 mm long, sessile, axillary; rachis striate, adpressed strigose, 15–30-flowered, flowers always sterile towards tip. Flowers pink to brick red, 4–5 mm long; bracts 1–1.5 mm long, narrowly triangular, caducous; pedicels up to 1.2 mm long. Calyx adpressed white pubescent, cup 0.5–1 mm long, teeth 1–1.5 x 0.5 mm, narrowly triangular. Standard 3.5–4.5 x 3–4 mm, orbicular, sometimes broadly obovate, rounded and mucronate at apex, adpressed strigose on the back; wing petals 3–4 x 1 mm, glabrous, ciliate along margins; keel petals 3–4 x 1–1.5 mm, adpressed strigose outside towards the tip, ciliate along margins, lateral spur c. 0.6 mm long. Staminal sheath 3–4 mm long; anthers c. 0.5 mm long. Ovary ca 3 mm long, linear, glabrous, up to 10-ovuled; style 1–1.5 mm long, glabrous. Pods 15–30 x 1.5–2.5 mm, deflexed to spreading (perpendicular to the axis), straight, subtetragonous, sharply beaked, strigose, ash-grey to pinkish, 6–l0-seeded. Seeds c. 2 x 1.5 mm, subtetragonous, yellow, dark-brown, smooth.

Phenology:— Fls.& Frts. Almost throughout the year.

Distribution:— INDIA: Throughout; PAKISTAN, SRI LANKA, BANGLADESH, MYANMAR, MALESIA, AUSTRALIA, WEST ASIA.

Habitat:— Dry wastelands, road sides, scrub forests sea level to 200 m.

Specimen examined:— Andhra Pradesh: Cuddapah , 400ft., February 1883, J. S. Gamble 11202 ; Khammam Dist., Kunavaram forest , 250m, 19 November 1993, R. Chandrasekaran 98788 ( MH) ; West Godavari Dist., Gobana palam, 25 January 1958, K. Subramanyam 5145 ( MH) ; Kurnool Dist., Chelama , 340m, 7 December 1963, J. L. Ellis 17964 ( MH) ; Anantapur Dist., Yadiki R. F., 250m, 13 November 1982, T. Pullaiah & N. Y. Sada 115 ( MH) ; Hyderabad Dist., Women’s College , 16 August 1970, B. K. Vijay Kumar 1265 ( MH) ; Adilabad Dist., Ontimamidi, sanse Avadi pesavura, 18 September 1985, T. Ravishankar 83106 ( MH) ; Kurnool Dist., Krishnanandi , 330m, J. L. Ellis 42314 ( MH) ; Warangal Dist., Pakhal R. F., 290m, 26 November 1960, K. M. Sebastine 11603 ( MH) ; Kurnool Dist., Mahanandi , 4 December 2012, Chauhan & Pandey 5080 ( DUH) ; Gujarat: Vadodara, Dangs forests, 10 September 1975, M. Sanjappa 512 ( CAL) ; Vadodara, Gir forests, 11 September 1975, M. Sanjappa 514 ( CAL) ; Chhodia chhella river, 3 December 1979, L. J. G. van der Maesen 3914 ( CAL) ; Kerala: Travancore, Makara , 5 September 1913, M. Rama Rao 1627 ; Madhya Pradesh: Indore Dist., Mhow, Choral , 27 August 1864, CM. Arora 5590 ; Rewa Dist., Rewa, near Goghavari river , 400m, 15 September 1959, K. M. Sebastine 8786 ( MH) ; Rewa Dist., Beside river Kutlai-Rewa town , 500m, 11 February 1959, K. M. Sebastine 7705 ( MH) ; West Nimar , November 2004, Surendra Singh 105684 ( BSD) ; Maharashtra: Thane Dist., near Kelvadi , 1 November 1968, K. V. Billore 115444 ; Poona Dist., Vakimada-Umapdeodava, Pimprani , 17 October 1966, R. D. Pataskar 110181 ( CAL) ; Poona Dist., Pashan , 29 September 1955, V. D.Vartak 1317 ; Satara Dist., Kudali , 2600ft, 19 October 1955, V. D.Vartak 1674 ; Poona Dist., Nasrapur , 1 November 1957, V. D.Vartak 11080 ; Rajasthan: Bhilwara Dist., on way to Bijola , 1 October 1978, A. N. Singh 6099 ; Indore Dist., Balaria hills, Jawar mines, 8 December 1983, N. C. Aery 47 ; Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore Dist., cultivated fields at the foot hills of Kuradimalai , 7 December 1980, M. Sanjappa 711 ; South Arcot Dist., Chidambaram taluk, 5 October 1978, P. Perumal 17990 ( CAL) ; Ramanathapuram Dist., Sanjeevimalai, Rajapalayam , 275m, 26 February 1979, N. C. Nair 61472 ( CAL) ; Ramanathapuram Dist., Manamadurai , 125m, 26 June 1978, N. C. Nair 57467 ( CAL) ; Salem Dist., Pennagaram , 350m, 25 July 1964, E. Vajravelu 20753 ( CAL) ; Coimbatore Dist., Tamil Nadu Agricultural university campus, 9 November 2011, Chauhan 1455 ( DUH) ; Madurai Dist., Megamalai hills, 20 November 2011, Chauhan 1478 ( DUH) ; Uttar Pradesh: Hamirpur , 3 April 1962, U. C. Bhattacharyya 21050 ( BSD) ; Mirzapur , 17 September 1961, U. C. Bhattacharyya 17511 ; Banda , 11 November 1957, M. A. Rau 3661 ; Mirzapur, Kutur , 10 February 1961, U. C. Bhattacharyya 13639 ( BSD) .

Chr. No.:— 2n = 16 (Frahm-Leliveld 1960); n = 8 ( Sareen & Singh 1975).

Pollen:— 3-zonocolporate, sphaeroidal rarely subprolate, 21 x 24μm, (PKK Nair 1965).

Notes:— Ali (1958) based on statistical analysis of 3 common and variable characters in I. trita and its closely related I. subulata grouped them into 5 taxa i.e. 2 subspecies viz., trita and subulata with 4 varieties viz., trita , maffeii (Chiov.) Ali (under subsp. trita ), subulata (Vahl ex Poiret) Ali and scabra (Roth) Ali (under subsp. subulata ). These subspecies were subsequently merged (Gillett, op. cit. and Ali, op. cit.) and recognized only varieties under I. trita . De Kort & Thijsse (1984) resurrected both the subspecies proposed by Ali and added a third one by elevating var. scabra (Roth) Ali to the subspecies status. They did not recognize any variety under them. Recently, Sanjappa (1984) merged all the subspecies based on a statistical analysis of three characters viz., length of the inflorescence, number of leaflets and condition of the pods (as suggested by Ali op. cit.) and recognized 5 varieties viz., trita , maffeii , marginulata, purandharensis and scabra for Indian region which is followed here. The variety trita shows variations in height of the plants, size of the leaflets and pods. The plants growing in arid localities and coastal areas exhibit stunted growth, reduced size of leaflets often with glabrous upper surface, with only 2–4 pods per peduncle developing from basal flowers and often the rachis tip become hard and spiny.