《中国植物志》|| 豆科 LEGUMINOSAE ||木蓝亚组 Subsect. Indigofera ||木蓝 Indigofera tinctoria L.

62.木蓝（本草纲目）蓝靛、靛（广东）图版91: 1-7
Indigofera tinctoria Linn. Sp. Pl. 751. 1753; Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 458. 1790; DC. Prodr. 2: 224. 1825; Roxb. Fl. Ind. 3: 379. 1832; Baker in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 99. 1876; Franch. Pl., David. 82. 1884; Dunn et Tutch. in Kew Bull. Add. ser. 10: 75. 1912; Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Gen. Ind-Chine 2: 428. 1916; Merr. Enum. Philip. Fl. Pl. 2: 276. 1923, et in Lingnaam Agr. Rev. 2: 16. 1924; Merr. et Chun in Sunyatsenia 5: 80. 1940; 中国主要植物图说•豆科249.图239. 1955; Gillett in Kew Bull. Add. ser. 1: 106. 1958, Fl. Trop. E. Afr. Leg. 3, Pap. 1: 308. 1971; Ali. in Bot. Not. 3: 567. 1958, et Fl. W. Pakistan 100: 82. 1977; 海南植物志2: 257. 1965; 台湾植物志3: 309. 1977; de Kort et Thijsse in Blumea 30: 136. 1984; Sanjappa in Reinwardtia 10: 238. 1985. ——I. indica Lam. Encycl. Menth. 3: 245. 1789. ——I. sumatrana Gaertn. Fruct. 2: 317. t. 148. 1791.
直立亚灌木，高0.5-1米；分枝少。幼枝有棱，扭曲，被白色丁字毛。羽状复叶长2.5-11厘米；叶柄长1.3-2.5厘米，叶轴上面扁平，有浅槽，被丁字毛，托叶钻形，长约2毫米；小叶4-6对，对生，倒卵状长圆形或倒卵形，长1.5-3厘米；宽0.5-1.5厘米，先端圆钝或微凹，基部阔楔形或圆形，两面被丁字毛或上面近无毛，中脉上面凹入，侧脉不明显；小叶柄长约2毫米；小托叶钻形。总状花序长2.5-5 (-9)厘米，花疏生，近无总花梗；苞片钻形，长1-1.5毫米；花梗长4-5毫米；花萼钟状，长约1.5毫米，萼齿三角形，与萼筒近等长，外面有丁字毛；花冠伸出萼外，红色，旗瓣阔倒卵形，长4-5毫米，外面被毛，瓣柄短，翼瓣长约4毫米，龙骨瓣与旗瓣等长；花药心形；子房无毛。荚果线形，长2.5-3厘米，种子间有缢缩，外形似串珠状，有毛或无毛，有种子5-10粒，内果皮具紫色斑点；果梗下弯。种子近方形，长约1.5毫米。花期几乎全年，果期10月。
安徽（舒城）、台湾（高雄），海南有栽培。广泛分布亚洲、非洲热带地区，并引进热带美洲。
叶供提取蓝靛染料，又入药，能凉血解毒、泻火散郁；根及茎叶外敷，可治肿毒。

《Flora of China》|| Fabaceae || Indigofera ||木蓝 Indigofera tinctoria

30. Indigofera tinctoria Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 751. 1753.

木蓝 mu lan

Shrublets, erect, 50-100 cm tall. Young branches with ap­pressed white medifixed symmetrically 2-branched trichomes. Stipules narrowly triangular, ca. 2 mm. Leaves 2.5-11 cm, 9-13-foliolate; petiole and rachis adaxially grooved, with ap­pressed medifixed trichomes; petiole 1.3-2.5 cm; stipels mi­nute; petiolules ca. 2 mm; leaflet blades opposite, obovate-oblong to obovate, 1.5-3 × 0.5-1.5 cm, both surfaces with appressed medifixed trichomes, adaxially sometimes glabrous, midvein adaxially impressed, secondary veins not visible, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex rounded to emarginate. Ra­cemes 2.5-5(-9) cm, laxly flowered; peduncle absent; bracts bristlelike, 1-1.5 mm. Pedicel 4-5 mm, reflexed in fruit. Calyx ca. 1.5 mm, with appressed medifixed trichomes; teeth triangu­lar, as long as tube. Corolla red; standard broadly obovate, 4-5 mm, outside with brown trichomes; wings ca. 4 mm; keel as long as wings. Stamens 4-5 mm; anthers cordate. Ovary gla­brous. Legume linear, deflexed and straight to semicircular but never falcate, 2.5-3 cm, hairy or glabrous; endocarp purplish red blotched. Seeds 5-12 per legume, cubic, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. year-round, fr. Oct. 2n = 16.

Cultivated in SW Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Taiwan, and Yunnan [widely distributed in tropical Asia and Africa].

Indigofera tinctoria is widely used as the source of the dye indigo.