Summary ⁴

Pollen low, nectar low

Flowering time 1-12, 9-1 Southern Africa. Different habitats, from Fynbos to Karoo mountain slopes to Highveld grasslands. Erect or trailing shrubs; some with a woody rootstock. Compound leaves with three or more leaflets. The colour of the showy pea flowers varies from pink to deep red. Pollen of Indigofera costata is yellowish-brown. Honeybee visits to flowers have rarely been recorded, probably only strong solitary bees are able to forcefully open the flowers to reach the nectar. Flowering times variable and for periods that can span several months. In semi-arid regions more than one flowering is possible, depending upon rainfall. (Johannsmeier, M. F. (2016). Beeplants of South Africa: Sources of Nectar, Pollen, Honeydew and Propolis for Honeybees)

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Ahmad Fuad Morad, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/60706597@N07/6282109415
2. (c) Leonora (Ellie) Enking, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/33037982@N04/4824572743/
3. (c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=14&id=871
4. Adapted by Megan W. from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigofera

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos

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