Indigofera heterophylla raceme

The flowers of Indigofera heterophylla grow in stalked, many-flowered racemes that become about 10 cm long. The raceme tends for a time to be narrowly cone-shaped, wider where the lower flowers are open, decreasing in width to the unopened buds higher up.

The calyx is thinly hairy with awl-shaped lobes; the back of the banner is also hairy. The banner and lateral petals are dominant in the flower view, the keel being small and hidden below. Flower colours vary from pale salmon-pink to reddish purple, darker on the outer petal surfaces and sometimes in the corolla centre. A flower becomes about 9 mm long. The fruit pods are thin.

The blooming season is long, starting in winter or just before and continuing through summer. The photo was taken in the Little Karoo in August (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Manning, 2009; Gledhill, 1981; iSpot).