福建木蓝 fu jian mu lan

Shrubs, to 2 m tall. Stems with dense appressed brown 2-branched trichomes with equally long arms. Stipules narrowly triangular, 7-10 mm, caducous. Leaves 7-10 cm, 13-19-folio­late; petiole and rachis with appressed brown 2-branched tri­chomes; petiole 1-2 cm; stipels narrowly triangular, ca. 2 mm; leaflet blades oblong to elliptic, 1.8-2.2 × 0.9-1.1 cm, both surfaces with appressed 2-branched trichomes, base rounded, apex obtuse and mucronate. Racemes 4-8 cm; bracts narrowly triangular, ca. 4 mm, longer than buds. Pedicel ca. 1.5 mm. Ca­lyx with appressed brown trichomes; tube ca. 2 mm; teeth broadly triangular, ca. 0.5 mm. Corolla red; standard narrowly elliptic, 1.4-1.6 × 0.5-0.6 cm, outside with appressed stiff brown 2-branched trichomes, apex acute; wings narrowly ellip­tic, 1-1.1 cm × ca. 2 mm, margin apically ciliate, apex hairy; keel 1.8-2 cm × ca. 3 mm, margin apically ciliate, apex long acute and hairy. Stamens 1.3-1.6 cm; anthers ellipsoid, gla­brous. Ovary glabrous. Legume ca. 4.5 cm × 5 mm, sparsely strigose with appressed trichomes; endocarp blotched. Seeds 8-11 per legume, brown, ellipsoid.

Fujian [Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

There seems to be some doubt about the identity of the Fujian material. Typical Indigofera sootepensis has leaves 15-20 cm, 29-51-foliolate; stipules 7-12 mm, attenuate; and racemes 10-13 cm. The distribution of typical I. sootepensis in Indochina is tropical dipterocarp forests to 1000 m.